


Living with Merlin

by rubberglue



Series: Living with Merlin [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, POV Gwen (Merlin), Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:26:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 21,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubberglue/pseuds/rubberglue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen needs a place to live and Merlin needs a house mate. It's (almost) perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> For E.

“So Aisyah, one month after meeting this guy, decides to move in with him,” grumbled Gwen as she painted tiny flowers onto her toe nails. “And now, I have to find somewhere else to live. In this city.”

“I’ve told you many times that you can move in here. God knows what Uther was thinking of when he left me this monster of a house. Who needs this many rooms?”

Lifting her eyes from her toe, Gwen smiled at Morgana. “It’s wonderful of you to offer but we’ve lived together before. I still shudder at the memories.”

Morgana threw a cushion at Gwen. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Gwen merely raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “We can be housemates or friends. We can’t be both.” Poking her foot at Morgana, Gwen wriggled her toes. “What do you think?”

+

Bright daylight. Check. 

Well, sort of. Bright daylight was at a premium but the fact that it wasn’t raining counted.

Crowded place. Check.

Albion and Swan was a busy little pub near the central business district, swarming with people in crisp, designer suits. She glanced down at the paint stained jeans she had on and grimaced.

Escape route. Planned to the nth degree, thanks to her paranoid brother. If he had his way, Elyan would be lurking around the corner, spying. In fact, Gwen quickly peered round the corner, just to be sure Elyan wasn’t there.

Bring a friend. She would have but Morgana bailed out halfway, citing an emergency at work. Gwen was pretty sure the emergency took the shape of a sexy, IT executive with swishing hair called Gwaine. 

Gwen checked her watch again. Five minutes more. Her attention drifted to the people gathered in the pub. High flying business people, she thought with a trace of disapproval. That her potential housemate wanted to meet here suggested he was one of them. She should have told Morgana no except that she was desperate.

“Gwen?”

Startled out of her thoughts, she turned to see a tall, lanky man with a wide grin on his face. He was dressed like everyone else in the pub, only his tie was askew and his hair looked as if between sleep and lunch, it hadn’t seen a comb. 

“Hi!” She stretched out an arm, “you must be Merlin.”

His grip was firm and warm. “Yup. Great to meet you. Shall we go in?”

“We’d be lucky to find a place to sit.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.” He started to push open the door, and without thinking, she stopped him.

“If you don’t mind, how about we grab a sandwich and sit in the park over there?”

She expected reluctance or begrudging acceptance. She did not expect his eyes to light up and his smile to get even wider. 

“Stop it!” He laughed later, after they had finished their lunch, as he crouched on the bench.

“I cannot believe you’re afraid of ducks! You’re ten times their size.” She tossed another bit of bread onto the ground, leading to another feeding frenzy.

“Seriously Gwen. This needs to be a clause in our housemate agreement - no ducks or anything with sharp beaks.”

“Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of yourself? I haven’t even seen your place.”

He chuckled at that. “You’ll love it.”

Gwen did love it. It wasn’t as large or fancy as Morgana’s but it was well-maintained, cosy and Merlin had offered her the use of the spare room as a art studio. For the amount he was asking for, it was a fantastic deal.

“Told you that you’d love it.” Smugness emanated from Merlin.

“You cheated by throwing in the spare room.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “What happened to your previous housemate?”

“He was a pain, an arrogant clotpole and had no idea how to pick up after himself. And those are his better qualities.”

“You threw him out?”

“You could say that. It helped that the house he was building was recently completed.” Merlin shook his head as if thinking about his ex-housemate was as distressing as living with him. “So, are we good?”

“I think so. Just the paperwork.”

“Good thing Morgana is a lawyer. She can deal with all that nonsense. I’ll inform her about the duck clause.”

“Great.” She watched Merlin as he pottered about the kitchen, making her the cup of tea he offered. Despite his fancy clothes, he seemed really down to earth, slightly dorky and full of sunshine. The complete opposite of Morgana. “So, if you don’t mind, how do you know Morgana?”

Merlin’s face grew red. “Ah, well we met at a magic show. We were the two poor sods pulled out from the audience to be chopped into half.”

“Oh my god,” Gwen gasped. “You’re the person she had this -”

“ - incredibly short and hot affair with? Probably.” His cheeks were practically glowing. 

“Ugh,” laughed Gwen. “I might know too much about you now.”

“Hey!” He said as he placed the tea in front of her. “We shook on the housemate thing. There’s no turning back now.”


	2. Moving In

Morgana insisted on helping her move although Gwen wasn’t sure why since (a) Morgana hated any form of labour and (b) Gwen had actually hired proper movers to move her belongings. Still, no one said no to Morgana so the two of them stood at the lift landing, watching as a pair of movers transferred her stuff from the van to the lift.

“There should be a rule that all men doing hard, sweaty labour must do so shirtless,” said Morgana admiringly as one of the movers - Cenred, Gwen thought his name was - moved past them, a large box in his arms. “Look at his muscles move.”

“Morgana,” Gwen gasped, “Is this why you took a day off to help me move?”

“Don’t be silly. You needed moral support and I, as your best friend, made the sacrifice to be here for you. The eye candy is just a bonus - god’s present to me for being such a wonderful friend.”

“Of course,” laughed Gwen.

Gwen tried not to laugh when, during the ride up in the lift, Morgana kept glancing at Cenred’s jeans-clad butt. “Aren’t you dating Gwaine?” she whispered.

“Pssh. That’s just an arrangement we have. I accompany him to his fancy company events and he pleasures me in bed. And I will say that he’s very good at his part of the deal. In fact -” Morgana dug out her phone and quickly sent a text. “- I think I might be feeling lonely tonight.”

Gwen was still watching Morgana surreptitiously eye Cenred when the lift doors slid open. 

“Hey Gwen! Thought I’ll take the day - oh Morgana.” The grin on Merlin’s face disappeared. “Gwen didn’t mention you were going to be here.”

“Merlin,” Morgana purred, easily avoiding the boxes in the lift as she stepped out. “How have you been?”

“Good, as you well know.”

Gwen frowned at the stilted interactions. “Uh, why are you two acting like you haven’t seen each other in forever?” Behind them, Cenred and his mover partner started shifting the boxes into Merlin’s apartment.

Morgana gave Gwen a look that suggested Gwen was being silly. “Because we haven’t seen each other since that time he tried to poison me.”

Gwen’s jaw dropped. “Poison you? You might have told me this before you suggested -”

“I did not poison you! I can’t help the fact that you have a weak stomach.”

“I’ve eaten raw oysters before and I’ve never gotten sick.”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Please, it was supposed to be a romantic evening. Why would I poison you?”

“Maybe because you wanted to end the relationship?”

Throwing his hands up, Merlin sighed. “Wouldn’t a phone call be easier? Oysters are expensive. You’re always so over-dramatic.”

“Uh miss?” Gwen dragged her attention away from her best friend and almost housemate to shirtless Cenred. “We’re done. Do you want to come in and check?”

“Ah good.” She followed Cenred into the apartment and quickly took inventory of all the boxes.

“You need to sign here.” A sheet of paper was thrust under her nose. Nodding, she took the pen from Cenred and scrawled her name on the line at the bottom. Then she pressed some money into his palm. Somewhere in between her doing all that, the quarreling between Merlin and Morgana had stopped.

Cautiously, she crept out of the apartment, telling herself if one of them was badly injured or dying, surely Cenred and his partner would have reacted. Instead of Merlin lying in a pool of blood, Gwen watched in horror as Morgana pressed him up against the wall and kissed him hungrily.

“I’m just going to unpack my things,” she said to one in particular, shrugging when neither Morgana nor Merlin bothered to answer her.


	3. Chapter 3

Things she learnt about Merlin after two weeks

  * He was always smiling. Nothing ever seemed to get him down.
  * He loved tuna and desserts.
  * For a man his size, he ate a lot.
  * He was a complete and utter mess.
  * He and Morgana had some sort of enemies-with-benefits thing going on and the both of them thought that they were doing a brilliant job keeping it a secret. They were not.
  * Did she mention he was a complete and utter mess?



Having had a number of housemates over the past few years, Gwen was very familiar with the getting-to-know you bit of the whole process. The key to a successful housemate relationship was open communication, honesty, patience and pie. Which was why she was currently baking an apple pie.

“Smells good,” called out Merlin as he entered their apartment. Gwen tried not to cringe when she heard Merlin shake off his jacket, then take off his shoes, dropping everything on the floor. That was number three on her list of things to discuss with Merlin.

Merlin wandered into the kitchen, casually tossing his bag onto the counter. Hopping onto the bar stool, he started to hum the theme from Kitchen Heat. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips.

“Stop it.”

“You look as professional as the contestants.” He grinned and waved his hands at her apron. “The apron, the thing in your hand.”

“The thing in my hand?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what it’s called. I do know you can do magic with it.”

“Ha. Which chef do I remind you of? The sexy Italian chef? The British chef with amazing knife skills?” she laughed as she turned away and peeked into the oven.

Merlin made a show of thinking, then replied, “I was thinking more like the grumpy French chef. The one who shouts a lot.”

Closing the oven door, Gwen spun around to face Merlin, hands on her hips. “What are you suggesting Merlin?”

“I’m suggesting that I’m not as dense as you think I am. There’s something on your mind and if you’re baking my favourite pie, then it mustn’t be anything good.”

Gwen threw the kitchen towel at him.

The pie was fantastic. The talk with Merlin, less so.

“So you’re telling me that all your life, you’ve been this messy.” She picked up the magazines Merlin had left on the sofa before sitting down and stretching her legs out on the coffee table.

“Don’t put your feet on the table!”

Gwen gasped, withdrawing her feet after he smacked her lightly. “You throw your jacket and shoes all over the floor, leave dishes in the sink for days and never put anything back and you grumble about my feet on the table?”

“It’s unhygienic,” Merlin muttered. “At least, that’s what my mother said.”

“Unhygienic is your dishes in the kitchen sink!”

“I usually wash them within the week. Anyway, it’s not that bad, really. I mean, it’s just a few things here and there.” Gwen watched in growing amazement as Merlin reached for the television control.

“Merlin! Being housemates is about compromise.” Grabbing the control from him, she switched the television off. “I can’t keep picking up after you! How did your ex-housemate ever survive?”

“He had a cleaning service come round every other day.”

Gwen frowned. “I can’t afford a cleaning service.”

“Yeah, me too. You’ll get used to the mess. I promise I won’t mess up your room.” He grinned. “Compromise Gwen. I don’t complain about your ukulele playing do I?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my ukulele playing!”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little mess.” Then he sighed. “Oh alright. I’ll do better ok? And only because I like you. More than that prat anyway.”

“Good,” said Gwen smugly. “I thought I would have to bring out the big guns.”

That caught Merlin’s full attention. “What big guns?”

“If I told you, they won’t be as effective.” She smirked, pleased that she didn’t really have to bring out the big guns. She might not mind crossing Merlin, but there was no way she wanted to get on Morgana’s bad side.


	4. The new boy next door

Just as Penelope was about to confess her feelings for Lekisha, Merlin burst into the apartment, slamming the front door behind him.

“Gwen!"

She waved her hands in his general direction in an attempt to tell him to shush, her eyes glued to the television in front of her.

"Are you still watching 'Brighton Beach'?" Merlin flopped onto the sofa next to her. "I swear, if Brian doesn’t get his shit together and apologise to Henry, I’m going to write a nasty letter to the producers. Anyway, you wouldn’t happen to be out of sugar, would you?”

“Yeah,” said Gwen, barely registering what Merlin was saying, her focus still on the television. “There’s sugar in the larder.” Then, as the ad break came on just as Lekisha was about to respond to Penelope’s confession, she threw her hands up. “Of course they have to break for commercials here.” Finally Merlin’s request struck her. “So, what do you want sugar for?”

“What about butter? Do we have that?”

Shifting so she was looking at Merlin, Gwen stared suspiciously at him, her mind suddenly flashing back to the last time Merlin used the oven. To dry his jeans. “Are you thinking of baking something because last Tuesday was only four days ago. You’re still banned from the oven.”

He grinned, completely unrepentant, and flicked her nose. “Good thing you have a sensitive nose. But I’ve done it before and it works fine. Just needed to keep a closer eye on it.”

Her responding smile was more of a grimace. “It’s a good thing we still have an apartment to live in. What do you want with sugar and butter?”

“There’s a new guy next door,” Merlin said completely out of the blue.

The familiar ‘Brighton Beach’ theme played and for a moment, Gwen couldn’t decide which was more compelling - Lekisha’s reaction to the confession or Merlin’s plans for the new guy next door that for some reason involved butter and sugar.

Lekisha won out.

“Ugh,” Gwen said. “That wasn’t satisfactory in the least. All that lying and scheming and Lekisha is all ‘oh you love me! Let’s kiss.’ Why do I watch this show?”

Beside her, she could feel Merlin’s amusement. “I don’t know why you expect narrative satisfaction from a soap. Speaking of soap, perhaps we have run out of soap?”

Her annoyance with ‘Brighton Beach’ dissipated and she turned her attention to Merlin. “Ok, now explain the sugar, butter, soap and new guy next door connection because right now, you don’t want to know what I’m thinking of.”

“This morning, after you left, there was a lot of noise outside so I peeked and there were movers.”

“Wait, does this mean that the chain-smoking old man is gone?” Gwen asked eagerly. When Merlin frowned, Gwen’s hope deflated. “Oh, it’s the young family who has moved out huh?”

“Yup. And I think I saw the new guy.”

Merlin’s tone and that slightly predatory gleam in his eyes told Gwen all she needed to know. “Merlin! You’re sleeping with Morgana!”

“What? No – I mean – how do you know?”

Dropping her face in her hands, she sighed. “I can hear the two of you in the middle of the night. This is a cheap apartment. The walls are thin.” Lifting her head, she laughed. Merlin’s ears were bright red. “Oh Merlin,” Gwen mimicked in a breathy voice, “harder –“

Merlin lunged at her and clamped his hand over her mouth. “You are such a perv, Guinevere!”

She bit the soft flesh of his palm, causing him to yelp then jump away. “Don’t worry. One night was all I could take. The next morning, I bought myself a supply of earplugs.” Pushing herself from the sofa, Gwen wandered to the kitchen. “I’m assuming that new guy must be pretty hot. Are you planning to woo him with some sort of homemade body scrub?”

“Body scrub?”

“You know, made with sugar, butter and soap.” Gwen pulled open the larder and sighed. “Merlin, you were supposed to buy more coffee!”

“Coffee! Brilliant!” Merlin hopped off the sofa, moving quickly to the door. Then he stopped, walked over to Gwen and took her arm. “Come on. Let’s go borrow some coffee from our new neighbour.”

They stood at the door.

“You knock,” said Merlin as he shoved an elbow into her side.

“This idea is yours. You knock.” Gwen muttered. “Did I mention it’s a terrible idea? The guy just moved in a few hours ago and you expect him to have coffee? Shouldn’t we –“

The door opened and Gwen found herself staring at the largest man she’d ever come across. His biceps were probably the size of her thighs.

“Uh, can I help you two?” The giant smiled kindly. A gentle giant, thought Gwen, like the one in that Roald Dahl book she was forced to read when she was in primary school.

Merlin smiled. “I’m Merlin and she’s Gwen. We live next door.” He jabbed a thumb at their door in demonstration.

“We need coffee,” Gwen blurted then wished the floor would open and swallow her whole. Why was she always like that when faced with attractive men?

“I’m afraid I don’t have any.” He smiled again. “I’m Percy by the way. Nice to meet you.”

His handshake was surprisingly gentle.

“Well,” said Merlin. “Great to meet you too. If you need anything – anything that isn’t coffee – just ask. And, we’ll leave you now.” Then he practically pushed Gwen back into their apartment.

“He was hot,” said Gwen. “Why were you in such a hurry to leave?”

“Yeah, in the I-spend-all-my-free-time-in-the-gym sort of way.”

Gwen raised an eyebrow. “Not interested?”

“Wasn’t any spark when he shook my hand. Pity.”

“And when Morgana shook your hand –“

Merlin grinned. “I never shook Morgana’s hand but the first time we –“

“Ok, forget I asked!” yelped Gwen as she darted into her room, Merlin’s laughter chasing after her.


	5. Chapter 5

_Friday Evening_

Her tongue poking out daintily from between her teeth, Gwen gingerly lifted the box cover and peered inside.

It moved.

With a squeal, she jumped back, knocking over the bag next to her. Enough vegetables to feed her and Merlin for a week tumbled out of the bag.

This was not good. How was she going to look after an iguana for a weekend if every move it made caused her to jump? As if answering her question, Gwen heard the key in the door.

"Hey Gwen! Wow, that's a lot of vegetables!" Merlin let his bag slide to the floor. "Are we on some sort of salad diet for the next few weeks?"

Gwen immediately walked to Merlin, carefully positioning herself so she blocked the little box with the iguana in it. "You like animals right?"

"Uh, I don't hate them." Merlin frowned.

"And you owe me a favour, don't you?" Gwen smiled up at him. "When I helped you buy a present for Morgana's birthday, which you forgot."

The crease between his eyebrows deepened. "What do you have in mind? I did offer you this very good two-for-one coupon at Pizza Friend."

"I think saving you from Morgana's wrath is worth more than a two-for-one coupon you probably found in someone's car."

Merlin shrugged. "Morgana wouldn't have expected a present from me. It's not like we're dating. I mean, we did go out that one time and -"

"Merlin!" Gwen shook her head with a laugh. "I don't want to dissect your simple yet overly complicated relationship with Morgana right now. That's a matter best left for when we're half drunk."

"Fine. What do you want me to do for you? Would you like an introduction to my rich and handsome ex-flat mate?" Merlin grinned. 

"What, no! I'm not desperate. What I need is for you to look after this for the weekend." Stepping away, Gwen gestured to the box. It jostled a little.

"What on earth -" Merlin shuffled closer and, using his little finger, lifted the top of the box. "It's a gigantic lizard! Where did you get this? Hello lizard!"

The iguana snapped at him. With a start, Merlin dropped the lid and took a step back. 

"It probably doesn't like being called a lizard. It's an iguana. Actually it has a name, it's called Kilgarrah, which is a mouthful if you asked me." Slowly, she picked up the vegetables, popping them back in the bag. 

"Why do we have an iguana? Surely, there's a clause in our agreement about bringing back other living things on a permanent basis."

As she dropped the last carrot into the bag, she smiled at Merlin. "He's here only on a temporary basis. I promised Gaius I would look after him for the weekend."

"Gaius, the one who lives upstairs?" Merlin opened the lid again and grinned at the iguana.

"Do you know another Gaius?"

"I think that if you promised him, then -"

Gwen opened her eyes pleadingly. "Please? He scares me." Her eyes drifted to Merlin's hand which was gently petting the iguana. "He seems to like you. Please."

"Oh fine," huffed Merlin as he lifted the box up. "Come on Kilgarrah. Let's get you settled in my room."   
He looked back just before he opened the door to his room. "Now you owe me."

_Saturday Morning_

Her heart still pounding from her morning run, Gwen pushed the door to the apartment open and removed her earphones.

"Merlin? I bought you breakfast!" Depositing the bag of muffins on the kitchen counter, she glanced quickly around their small apartment. Obviously, Merlin was still in bed. She jogged over to his room and rapped on the door. It was past 10am, far too late for that lazy bum to be still in bed. "Merlin! Rise and shine!"

She heard a grunt. Then the sound of cloth rustling. Then nothing.

"Merlin!" Gently, she pushed open the door. She was pretty sure Morgana wasn't inside - she usually left in the wee hours of the morning. "Merlin!"

Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room, she found herself staring at the bulgy eyes of Kilgarrah. Her hands flew to her mouth to muffle the instinctual scream but it was too late. The lump under the blankets moved, groaned than sat up.

"Gwen?" Merlin stretched, showing off far too much of his shirtless body, then turned so he was facing her properly. "What's wrong?"

"I think Kilgarrah has escaped."

"What?" Confusion marred his features before he relaxed. "Oh Killy. Nah, the box was so sparse. I thought he'd be more comfortable in my bed."

Gwen opened her mouth, then closed it again when she realised she had nothing to say. "I'm not washing your sheets." 

Saturday Evening

"No evening plans?" Merlin leaned casually against her door frame. 

Gwen looked up from her canvas. "I was planning to finish this painting."

"I was going to bring Killy out for a walk so I thought you would want to come along. We can try that new café around the corner for dinner."

Gwen blinked at him. 

"We'll just keep him in his bag. No one will be the wiser. Killy is very quiet, aren't you?" That was when Gwen saw the little bag Merlin had slung across him, the iguana's head peeping out. Absently, Merlin petted its head.

_Sunday Morning_

Gwen rubbed her eyes. "Merlin, walking forward is not a trick. And it's 7am in the morning. I did not need to be woken up for this."

"But he's doing it on demand. Watch!" Merlin whistled and on cue, Kilgarrah lumbered towards Merlin.  
"You have lettuce in your hand."

With exaggerated dismay, Merlin turned on her. "I wouldn't walk towards you when you whistle even if you were holding a cupcake."

Sunday Evening

"Oh my god, you lost Kilgarrah?" Gwen dropped the spoon she was holding and turned from the stove. "Gaius will be coming home tonight!"

Merlin kept his gaze to the ground, scuffing his foot against the floor. "Maybe if you groveled a little?"

"Me? You lost him!" A bit of the pasta sauce from the spoon landed on her shirt as she waved the spoon around. She scowled. 

"Yeah, but you promised Gaius -"

Something moved. 

Gwen narrowed her eyes.

Merlin shuffled a little to his left.

Gwen leaned over.

"What's in your bag?"

"Nothing."

With her foot, she nudged the bag. It moved again. "Merlin. Is Kilgarrah in there?"

"We can't keep him?"

Gwen closed her eyes and sighed.

_Tuesday Evening_

Gwen was watching television when she noticed a movement from the corner of her eye. For a moment, she thought Kilgarrah was still around but she remembered personally handing him over to Gaius on Monday morning.

Pausing the show she was watching, Gwen padded to the kitchen to investigate. Had Kilgarrah escaped? Had Merlin stolen him?

The iguana she came face to face with was not Kilgarrah. For one thing, it was smaller.

“Merlin!”

It was with great glee that Merlin introduced her to Aithusa. And now, they were three.


	6. Chapter 6

Gwen liked people who cooked. She especially liked people who cooked well and cooked for her, which was why she’d decided that Percival, despite his clear disinterest in her, was her best friend, next to Morgana, and possibly Merlin. Licking her spoon clean, she beamed at Percy who lounged comfortably on her chair, despite his long limbs. Next to him, Merlin had his face buried in the newspapers, one arm reaching out on occasion to grab a spoonful of the warm cornflower cream soup Percy had made from scratch.

“Merlin,” she nudged him with her foot. “Don’t be rude.”

The newspapers rustled, then Merlin’s face popped out. “Sorry,” he said around a mouthful of croutons. “I just wanted to see how the launch of the new property is going.” Smoothing the paper, he set them down on the table next to him before turning to nod at Percy. “This is good.”

“It’s a good recipe. I could give it to you if you want.”

Waving his spoon, Merlin shook his head. "I'm a disaster in the kitchen. Now, I don't suppose either of you are good at orienteering."

Gwen blinked. "What?"

"Orienteering." Merlin dragged out the syllables, as if that would explain things better. Good thing Merlin wasn't an educator.

"Isn't that something you do in the forest?" Percy asked.

Merlin eyed Percy. "You look the kind who does lots of things in the forest."

"What does that even mean? Because I have muscles? I didn't get them lifting logs, you know."

"Google says orienteering is something about navigating with a map? If that's the case, I'm pretty sure I'm brilliant at it." Gwen grinned at Merlin. "Why do you ask?"

And it was then Gwen learned that whenever Merlin asked someone if they are good at anything, it was simply a precursor to him pleading for help.

"You said this was for fun and charity," muttered Gwen. "Why does everyone look like they're dressed for battle?" When she'd pulled on her rattiest jeans and oldest t-shirt that morning, Gwen had thought that she was going to spend her Sunday participating in a light-hearted, _fun_ , treasure hunt then proceed to her favourite coffee shop to reward herself for being such a caring human being. Looking around at the other teams warming up while chanting what could only be war chants, she had a horrible feeling that the other competitors didn’t actually see the Pendragon Annual Treasure Hunt as a _fun_ activity.

“We should warm up too,” said Merlin. Then he hopped a little, flailing his arms as he did so.

Gwen took a step away, hoping no one would think she belonged on the same team as him. In her haste, she tripped on something, and slammed quite hard into someone. Thinking it was Percy, she swung around, ready to ask him to take him away from here.

But it wasn’t Percy.

Frowning down at her was Arthur Pendragon, CEO of Pendragon Properties and Merlin’s boss. How he managed to look even better than in all the tabloid photos, especially dressed in casual sports gear and not the usual suits he wore so well, Gwen had no idea. All she was painfully aware was that his hands gripped the top of her arms and that his chest looked very appealing.

Then he opened his mouth. “What on earth? Don’t you look before you move?”

“Me? What about you?” Shrugging out his hold, she stepped back and jabbed his chest, trying to ignore the voice in her head that pointed out how firm it felt under her finger.

“Ah!” Merlin stopped hopping and rushed over. “I see you’ve met Arthur. Arthur, this is Gwen. Gwen, this is my boss, Arthur.”

A look of horror on Arthur’s face, he turned to Merlin. “Are you telling me this who you got for our team this year?”

“Excuse me?” Gwen turned to Merlin as well. “We’re supposed to be on the same team?”

“She said she can read maps well.”

“She can’t even balance on her two feet!”

“Hey, I’m right here!” Pushing down the childish desire to kick Arthur in the shins, Gwen positioned herself between them, hands on her hips and stamped her foot.

Arthur looked at her then shook his head. “Can you tell your right from your left?”

“Yes!”

“Well, that already puts you ahead of the last person Merlin asked to join our team last year. Where’s the other team member? Please don’t tell me it’s your pet lizard.”

“Aithusa is an iguana and he’s probably smarter than you,” said Gwen churlishly even though it made no sense at all. Humiliation coursed through her when instead of scowling at her or snapping at her, Arthur blinked, then threw his head back in laughter.

“Percy’s over there.” Merlin shot Gwen a pleading look, then shoved Arthur towards where Percy stood, chatting with some other muscular guys. “I think those are his friends from the gym.”

“Alright, you didn’t do so badly with this one.”

They came in third in the end, losing only because the team that came in first were obviously explorer robots in disguise (Merlin agreed) and because Merlin read the directions wrongly and they spent 10 minutes wandering lost in the woods. And while Arthur was infuriatingly competent, he was all completely aware of how competent he was which made him infuriatingly arrogant and a general pain all round.

Hot and sweaty, they collapsed onto the ground after collecting their winners’ medal. Some performance was happening on the makeshift stage that was set up but Gwen was far too exhausted to even give it a cursory glance.

“That wasn’t too bad,” said Arthur who had, somehow, ended up flopped on the ground next to her. “Thanks to me.”

“I read all the maps, accurately too,” muttered Gwen. “But it’s probably too much for you to acknowledge anyone else’s contribution.”

He turned his head to her, and gave her a slow smile. “Thank you Gwen.”

And to mask the effect his annoying sexy smile had on her, she scowled then swore at him.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite her best efforts, Gwen knew that this day would come eventually. She stepped out of her room, yawning and still half-asleep, only to see Morgana sneaking out of Merlin’s. Cursing her weak bladder, her first instinct was to run back into her room, pretend she had been sleep walking, but Morgana Le Fay, socialite du jour, was above such petty concerns. It didn’t matter that her hair was mussed up or that the left strap of her dress was hanging off her shoulder or that she had a bright, red love bite on her neck.

Taking a step towards Gwen, Morgana grinned, clearly uncaring that she had been practically caught in flagrante. “Gwen! I was just leaving.” She tilted her head towards Merlin’s room. “He’s still asleep.”

“Ah.” And because Gwen’s brain didn’t work so well early on Saturday mornings, she asked. “Would you like some coffee before you go?”

Slipping her handbag off her shoulder and dumping it on the small breakfast table, Morgana nodded. “Sounds wonderful.”

Gwen suspected all the awkwardness was completely on her side because after she made the coffee and the two of them settled down at the breakfast table, Morgana launched into a conversation about the latest gossip in the ultra-privileged world that she usually ran in when she wasn’t in Merlin’s cheap bed. 

“Can you imagine the nerve of Catherine – oh sorry, Lady Catherine. Ever since she married Lord Odin, she’s been flaunting her new title around. As I was saying, Lady Catherine actually went up to –“

“What – why are you still here?” Merlin opened the door, a frown etched deeply in his forehead.

“In case you forgot, Gwen is my best friend and we’re having coffee. Care to join us?” Morgana’s smile was pleasant, but Gwen was aware of an undercurrent of annoyance.

Merlin ran a hand through his already messy hair and his frown deepened. “No. I’m going to shower.”

Raising a hand, Morgana waved at him, laughing when he stomped into the bathroom. 

“So, uh, you and Merlin.”

“We’re sleeping together. I know he doesn’t look it but he’s quite good in bed.”

“Didn’t need to know that,” said Gwen. “You don’t actually seem to like each other.”

“Since when is that a pre-requisite for sex?” Something flashed in Morgana’s eyes but it was gone too quickly for Gwen to get a handle on it. “We’re two people who enjoy sex with each other. Dating was a disaster but the sex – brilliant.”

Gwen raised her eyebrows. “That’s nice.”

“You should try it. No-strings sex. It’s very liberating. And after Keith, I think you need some liberation.” Morgana grinned at Gwen. “How about that hot neighbour of yours? Arms like trunks, most likely, a body like a Greek god.”

“I’m good, living my celibate lifestyle. No clingy men with self-esteem problems.” Gwen sucked in a deep breath, trying to cool her cheeks and to get rid of all the inappropriate images in her mind. All these years of friendship and Morgana could still fluster her so easily.

Morgana patted Gwen’s hand lightly. “If you ever need someone to warm your bed, I’ve a little black book I can lend you. Alright, I should go. Merlin is going to have a fit if I’m still here when he gets out of the shower. He’s very fussy about lines and boundaries.” Then she winked at Gwen. “Except in bed, that is.”

“I didn’t need to know that either!”

In response, Morgana laughed, her head thrown back, as she slipped gracefully out of the apartment. 

"Is she gone?" asked Merlin a while later, as Gwen was washing up the coffee cups. “Oh thank god. Are we still going to the carnival? Because I really want some cotton candy. I’ve been dreaming –“

“I don’t want to know about your dreams!”

The carnival was in full swing by the time Gwen and Merlin reached. Families and young, teenage couples were out in full force. Roller coasters rumbled in the background, accompanied by the screams of the riders. It was pretty obvious that neither Gwen nor Merlin were the target audience but that didn’t dampen Merlin’s enthusiasm one bit. 

“Cotton candy, then a ride on the Big Loop, alright? I’ll pay.”

As much as she wasn’t keen about going on Big Loop, Gwen found herself unable to say no to Merlin when he gave her that look. It was the same look he used when he asked about getting Aithusa. Eyes sparkling with glee, he dragged her over to the stall, bought candy floss – she was more sensible and got a hot dog – then rushed over to join the snaking queue of Big Loop, the largest wooden roller coaster, or so the sign said. 

It didn’t surprise Gwen one bit that Merlin got cotton candy all over his face. Pulling out a piece of tissue paper, she wiped off the pink strands from his cheek, shaking her head at him. He grinned in response and asked if he could try her hot dog. The queue inched forward and by the time they finished their lunch (cotton candy was totally lunch according to Merlin), they were second in line. Merlin was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, reciting to her facts and figures about roller coasters, most of which went over her head as she watch the coaster swing around corners and fly down steep slopes. She took Merlin’s hand.

“I’ll protect you,” he said with a squeeze.

It was the safety bar which was more protection than Merlin, who let go of her hand and threw his hands up in the air the moment they started moving. 

After the ride, they wandered around the fair for a while, avoiding crying, sticky children and teenagers wrapped around each other. Merlin won a small stuffed rabbit he insisted needed a place of honour in their living room. Gwen ate yet more snacks.

“Look, a fortune teller! Let’s go in.”

“You know they are all fake, right?” Still, Gwen let him pull her towards the tent, decorated apparently with everything vaguely mystical that could be found in Camelot. 

Merlin shoved her inside. “You go first.”

She expected a stereotypical looking fortune teller, equipped with crystal ball and maybe some cards. Instead she found inside, a bored looking teenage boy. His mess of black hair flopped over his eyes and he looked at her with as much interest as she found computer coding. With a wave of his hand, he gestured for her to sit and she did, gingerly, because the seat looked both fragile and a little icky. 

“What do you want to know?”

“Are you sure you’re a fortune teller?”

He wrinkled his nose. “You know it’s $5 a question? Sure that’s your question?”

She glared at him. She had been a relief teacher before and she knew how to handle mouthy teens. He held out a while, staring back at her before he finally broke eye contact.

“I’m standing in for my mum. You want your palm read or not?”

“Can you actually tell the future?”

He shrugged. “My mum thinks I can. Show me your palm.”

The teen might look less than enthused about being the stand-in fortune teller but he certainly studied her palm carefully. His bored eyes met hers after a while.

“Well?”

“Your love life looks interesting. I’d choose the blonde over the dark haired one, if I were you. Oh, and you probably want to change your moisturizer. I use La Belle. It’s very good for its price.”

Merlin was in a mood after he exited the tent. Apparently, learning that the woman he was currently having a hot affair with would be the love of his life was not a good thing. Gwen didn’t even want to try and understand the two of them. As long as there was no more poisoning incidents and as long as she didn’t have to listen to their bedroom antics, Gwen was fine with whatever they were doing.

Dinner was cheese nachos and candy apples.

“We’re going to suffer so much for this,” said Gwen as she licked the cheese off her fingers. Evening was falling and the sky took on an orange hue. The evening breeze caressed her and she closed her eyes. 

“It’s worth it though,” said Merlin. “We can eat healthy tomorrow. Salads.”

Gwen smiled, her eyes still closed. “You hate salads.”

“So do you.”

“True.” Opening her eyes, she looked at Merlin finishing his candy apple, and laughed. “You’re a mess. Go wash your face.”

Merlin took forever in the toilet and Gwen found herself watching some people play one of those shooting carnival games. One young man was doing very well and on his way to the first prize – a gigantic stuffed penguin. Caught up, like many other spectators, in the excitement, she squealed when he successfully made the shot that won him the penguin. She must have caught his attention, because he turned to look at her.

She flushed. He was very handsome with dark hair that curled against his collar and dark eyes that reminded her of thick chocolate. But mostly, he was looking at her with a smile on his face.

“I can’t believe you have a giant penguin,” grumbled Merlin.

“Your rabbit is still very cute,” she said as she gave it a pat. 

He rolled his eyes, then smiled at her. “My rabbit still gets a position of honour. You can hide your penguin in your room.”


	8. Chapter 8

When Gwen placed the cheesecake in front of him, Merlin eyed her suspiciously. She flashed her brightest smile at him, then placed another slice on his plate.

“Did Lance propose?” Merlin arched an eyebrow at her.

Even hearing his name was enough to send a warm glow through her. Lance was kind, principled, smart and gorgeous – everything she could possibly want in a man. But a proposal after two months of dating was probably expecting too much. They had barely done anything more than kiss. She told herself that it was Lance being a gentleman and that was a good thing, but she couldn’t help but wish they were like Merlin and Morgana and their far too active sex life.

She sat down and pulled her plate towards her. “My brother needs a place to stay. Just for a little while.”

Merlin chewed on his cheesecake, tilted his head and looked at her.

“I know that in our contract it says that we can’t have guests for more than one night. But I can pay more rent for the week. I’ll do your laundry, clean your room –“

“Gwen –“ His throat worked as he swallowed his cheesecake. 

“I’ll cook every meal.”

Raising a hand, Merlin grinned. “Hey, I know what the contract said. But we’re buddies right? Of course your brother can stay over for a while. Although, I think I’ll take up the offer of laundry.”

Gwen tossed her napkin at him.

After two days of having her brother around, Gwen was close to digging out the contract and using it to toss him out. Apparently after living apart from Elyan for years, she’d completely forgotten how annoying he was to live with. Oh, she loved her brother and she knew he loved her but the next time he asked her if she really wanted to wash the oily pan in the same water as the other dishes, then stand next to her and frown as she did so, she would throw the dirty water at him, then throw him out of her apartment.

Of course he got along swimmingly with Merlin, the two of them spending much time in front of the television watching various reality shows and making snide comments on the contestants. And they were doing that again when Gwen wandered into the kitchen to make herself some tea. The art piece a local community group had commissioned from her was coming along really well but she needed a break. She had a habit of getting too involved in her art and forgetting to eat, although with Merlin around, it happened less and less often.

“Tea anyone?”

“Only if you make it properly,” shouted Elyan. “None of that microwaving water.”

Gwen rolled her eyes as she bit down on a rude retort. “I’ll use a kettle and the nice tea set,” she said sweetly between her teeth.

“Don’t mind a cup,” said Merlin. “Thanks!”

“Me too!”

She was bringing out the tea when someone knocked on the door. Merlin hopped from his seat and went to open the door as Elyan helped her lay out the tea.

“How’s your art?”

“Not too bad. I’ve a few commissions and I’m doing art classes three times a week.”

Elyan sipped his tea. “Good. Always knew you’d do well.”

Her scoffing laugh was instinctive. “Please. You spent my teens telling me that no one makes a living in art!”

“Clearly I was wrong.” Elyan shrugged. Then he smiled at her. “I am proud of you.”

The annoyance that had been building in her since he made that remark about tea eased and she smiled back at him. “Yeah. I did well.”

Laughing, Elyan reached over and gently punched her shoulder, the same way he had done for years. Before Gwen could react, Merlin walked back into the living room with Percy. 

“Percy was returning the blender he borrowed and I thought I’d introduce him to Elyan. This is Gwen’s brother.”

Elyan stood and stretched out his hand. Percy wrapped his hand around his, and grinned. “Great to meet you.”

Three days later, when Gwen reached home to see Merlin watching Fix my Fashion alone, she finally gave voice to the question that had been bugging her. Amusement lit Merlin’s eyes and he nodded. 

“He’s at Percy’s. I think they were going to try some gourmet coffee they found at the weekend market.”

“That’s not what I meant when I asked if they were together,” said Gwen as she flopped onto the sofa next to Merlin. 

“He’s your brother. You should be asking him. Anyway, he said he’s moving out in three days?”

Gwen nodded. “The plumbing in his apartment should be fixed by then.”

“Well, I think he’s going to be reluctant to leave.” Merlin flashed her a smile then turned his attention back to the television.

The next day, Gwen thought she saw Percy and Elyan holding hands but when she looked again, they weren’t.

The day after, Gwen was pretty certain she saw Percy touch Elyan’s bum as they shopped at the supermarket together. She wished she could forget it.

But the pièce de résistance was when Gwen couldn’t sleep one night, she walked out to get a drink of water and saw the two of them making out, quite vigorously, on what she used to regard as her clean, unsexed sofa. She spent the rest of the night counting sheep, trying to erase the image of her brother french kissing Percy.

There was a curse on this house, thought Gwen, that everyone who lived there had great sex lives except her. With the bonus curse of Gwen having to witness it all. 

With a groan, she started counting sheep backwards from 100.


	9. Chapter 9

“You put down the phone first,” said Gwen as she snuggled further into her bed and pulled the quilt over her. Lance always called to say goodnight and it was the sweetest thing. 

“No, you first.”

“Lance –“

“I love you, Gwen.” Lance purred over the phone, sending pleasure winding through her. 

Unable to stop smiling, Gwen covered her face with her quilt. “I love you too, Lance.”

Admittedly, it took a while before the two of them finally hung up the phone. Burying her face in her pillow, Gwen fell into a sleep filled with dreams of Lance, a house in the countryside, a golden retriever and a bunch of art awards.

Oldies played from the old radio that sat in the corner of her studio. Still in a buoyant mood from her good night’s sleep, Gwen hummed along as she dug her hands into the clay. Quickly, she lost track of time and without Merlin, she forgot about lunch, so by the time evening came, her stomach started to rumble. Washing her hands, she tidied up her studio, just as she heard Merlin return home.

“Gwen?”

She poked her head out of the studio. “Hey Merlin!”

“Did you eat lunch?” Gwen noticed that Merlin was placing several bags of what looked like takeout on the kitchen counter and smiled. Living with Merlin was possibly the best decision she’s made.

“I forgot.”

Merlin tutted at her, then waved a box he’d taken out of a bag at her. “You better come out and have some food then.”

They ate at the counter, with Gwen idly scrolling through her phone and tapping out the occasional message and Merlin flipping through one of those free metro newspapers. 

“These celebrity smush names are ridiculous. Apparently Sophia Lee, that supermodel, is breaking up with that footballer – Harry something and they are having a field day punning on Sorry. It’s so dumb!” Merlin tossed his newspaper onto the counter and stuffed a spoonful of curry into his mouth.

“Can you imagine if we were famous and dating? We would be called Gwenlin!” That thought sparked images of little furry beasts with Merlin’s prominent ears that turned evil when wet and suddenly she couldn’t stop laughing. Her spoon and phone clattered onto the table as she wiped the tears from her eyes, only to see Merlin scowling at her despite the dancing amusement in his eyes. 

“Speaking of dating, I’ve a favour to ask.”

“Alright? What can I do for you?” Gwen was still feeling a mix of humour and affection for Merlin. He definitely chose a good time to ask for a favour.

“How do you feel about being my date for some fancy party the company is throwing?”

Seeing that Gwen was thinking more along the lines of making Merlin’s favourite dessert or accompanying him to one of those B-movies he seemed to love so much, this startled her a little. Her first thought was that, surely, Merlin wasn’t interested in her in that way, a sentiment she blurted out immediately.

Merlin chuckled. “And what if I said I did?”

Gwen opened her mouth, then closed it again when she realized she had no answer. She blinked.

“I’m joking! Not that you’re not attractive or anything but – yeah.” Merlin waved his hand and flashed her a sheepish smile. “So, be my date?”

“Why don’t you take Morgana?”

“Have you lost your mind? Take Morgana?” 

Leaning towards Merlin, Gwen grinned. “You two spend every night together. Why not take it to the daytime?”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “She wasn’t here last night. And as I’ve said many times before, it’s a sex thing. We’re not in a relationship.”

“Right. Be pedantic about it. Why do you even need a date? Go by yourself.”

“Because Vivian will be there,” said Merlin as if that explained everything. At her raised eyebrow, Merlin continued, “Vivian is Arthur’s personal assistant and she’s lovely. Mostly. But she fancies herself a matchmaker. She says that she can tell if people are compatible just by looking at their faces.”

Gwen chewed on her food.

Merlin squirmed. “And she’s decided that as Arthur’s best friend, I deserve her undivided attention.”

“How many people has she set you up with?”

“Give or take 10 people.” He let out a sigh. “Believe me, none of them are even remotely my type.”

Even biting down on her lip, Gwen couldn’t stop the laughter that exploded out of her, but it did stop her from mentioning Morgana again. She reached across the counter and petted Merlin’s arm. “Poor Merlin.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Oh fine. I hope your boss caters good food.”

“The best.”

Lance, being the best boyfriend, patiently accompanied her dress shopping. After all, a fancy dinner party required a fancy dress, even if she had to dip a little into her savings. Admittedly, she was quite excited at attending the party. It definitely wasn’t anything she’d done before. People didn’t usually invite struggling artists to such things.

“I’m jealous that Merlin gets to take you out in that dress,” Lance said as they stopped outside her door.

Running a hand down his chest, Gwen smiled up at him. “You’ll be the second. We can go out to that lovely Italian restaurant next week. You wear your best suit and I’ll wear this dress.”

With a smile, Lance dipped his head and kissed her. 

Gwen had thought she was prepared for the fancy party – she had scoured magazines and looked online, she went to a hairdresser to style her hair and she’d even talked to Morgana about what to expect – yet she was completely unprepared for the sight that met her eyes when she stepped into the ballroom on Merlin’s arm.

A large chandelier hung from the ceiling, catching and casting light around the room. Heavy curtains covered the walls and the tables were decorated with fancy art pieces that called out to her to touch and examine. And the people – they were dripping with jewelry, dressed in clothes that she’d only ever seen in magazines and had hair that Gwen suspected took hours to set. 

Merlin squeezed her arm. “The food is good.”

A waiter drifted pass and Gwen lifted a tiny tart off his tray, popping it into her mouth. “Mmm. Very good. I don’t suppose they will be gauche enough to leave the caterer’s name cards on the tables.”

“We couldn’t afford them,” said Merlin as he led her further into the cavernous ballroom. “Let’s go say hello to some people.”

Within minutes, Gwen had been introduced to various important people. At least, they acted as if they were important. Aside from the Minister of Arts and Community, who she tried very hard to charm, Gwen had no idea who any of these other people were. Somewhere between her trying to snag another piece of that incredibly heavenly prawn dumpling and trying to grab a drink, Merlin had disappeared, leaving her all alone. It didn’t quite bother her since she had the prawn dumpling and mini quiches for company, until she noticed a young woman walking determinedly towards her. 

“Hello. I’m Vivian.” She stuck out her hand and Gwen found herself having to attempt to juggle her wine glass and the prawn dumpling. So she did the only sensible thing and stuffed the whole dumpling into her mouth.

Which wasn’t so sensible because Gwen suspected she was now shaking the hand of and staring at the very well put together Vivian with bulging cheeks and eyes. With much difficulty, she swallowed her dumpling. “Hello. I’m Gwen.”

“I’ve never seen you around before. Are you someone’s date?”

Gwen gulped down some wine, then smiled widely. She would play in love with Merlin so well that Vivian would stop hassling Merlin. “I’m Merlin’s date.”

“Oh.” Vivian looked a little flustered. “Oh,” she said again.

“Is there a problem?”

The smile on Vivian’s face had somehow, without moving, turned from genuine to plastic. Perhaps she was disappointed that Merlin was off the market. “Oh no. There’s no problem. Merlin is a very – uh – very nice man.”

Putting on her best in-love voice, Gwen clasped one hand to her heart and said, “He is. He’s such a wonderful man. Just last night, Merlin –“

“Oh look, there’s Henry. I really have to go speak with him. Enjoy the dumplings.” And with a light touch on her hand, Vivian was hurrying off. 

Gwen took another mini quiche off the tray of a passing waiter and looked curiously at Vivian who’d inserted herself with another group of people. Perhaps she’d given up on matchmaking Merlin. Her wine glass in her hand, Gwen walked around the ballroom, taking in the exquisite decorations. 

She was touching one of the table decorations, wondering how the artist managed to do such delicate work with wood, when someone cleared their throat beside her. Dropping her hand, she looked up.

“I remember you. You’re Map Girl.” Next to her was Arthur Pendragon, in a tux and smiling down at her. When did he get so handsome? For a moment, she forgot to breathe. “I assume you’re Merlin’s date?”

“Yeah.” Gwen barely croaked the word out as her baser instincts decided that Arthur Pendragon was the most gorgeous man she’d even been so close to and decided to stop her brain from working. 

Arthur lifted his eyebrows as his eyes twinkled with amusement. “You do realise he’s with my sister? In one of the spare rooms, doing whatever the two of them do when they get together.”

Gwen opened her mouth, then closed it. Had Vivian seen Merlin wander off with Morgana? Was that why she looked so flustered when Gwen cooed over Merlin? When they got home, she was going to kill Merlin for cheating on her. Finally annoyance overrode the sharp sting of attraction. Narrowing her eyes, she told Arthur exactly what she was going to do Merlin. 

She wasn’t sure what she expected Arthur to do but he smiled after her outburst and offered her his hand. “How about a dance to take your mind off Merlin and his cheating ways?”

“I don’t know how to dance.”

His smiled widened as he closed his hand around hers. “Just follow my lead.”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“It’s just a dance, Map Girl.”

It wasn’t just a dance. Not to her traitorous hormones anyway. Arthur kept his hand lightly on her back as they moved to the music but to Gwen it felt like his hand was burning through her skin, causing little sparks of desire to shoot through her. He smelled nice and his body was both warm and hard against hers. When her fingers played with his hair, Gwen knew that she was crossing the line. She let go of Arthur and took a step back, slamming into another couple on the dance floor. When she looked at them to mutter a quick apology, she caught sight of Merlin, munching on something, his bow tie askew. 

Safe haven.

Quickly she walked towards Merlin, refusing to look back at Arthur.

“How dare you leave me to go have sex with Morgana?” She hissed at Merlin the moment she reached him.

A flush rose from his neck to his cheeks. “She started it.”

“Ooh, don’t you have any self-control?”

“I’m sorry! I just –“

“Let’s just go, Merlin. I’m tired.”

The first thing Gwen did when she reached home was call Lance. She told him about the wonderful food, Merlin cheating on her at the party and the dance with Arthur. She didn’t tell him about how good it felt to be held by Arthur. 

“I love you too,” she whispered into the phone. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the guilt that ate at her.


	10. Chapter 10

“I thought you had the key.” Her arms full of bags, Gwen glared at Merlin who was rummaging through his huge backpack. “I asked and you said you had it.”

“I thought I did!” He turned his bag over and dumped everything onto the floor. Various notebooks, a half-eaten energy bar, his tablet and an assortment of stationery tumbled to the ground in a cloud of crumbs.

No key.

Sheepishly, Merlin glanced up at her. “Oops.”

“It’s a weekend, Merlin! It’ll take forever for the building manager to get back to us with the extra keys,” said Gwen as she thought mournfully of her hungry stomach and the frozen pies in the refrigerator. 

“Percy!” said Merlin. 

For a moment, Gwen’s spirits lifted. Percy would have better food than frozen pie in his kitchen, then she remembered it was Saturday night and he always spent it with her brother. 

“Well, how about that old man who lives upstairs? Killy’s owner?” Merlin suggested when Gwen told him Percy was unlikely to be home. “You’re friendly with him.”

Gwen raised her eyebrows. “Only if by friendly, you mean waving to him in the mornings at the bus stop. And we might as well wait here. It’ll just be awkward upstairs.”

“I suppose,” said Merlin, pouting slightly as he stuffed his things back into his bag. “I thought we could visit Killy.’

“Oh, alright. Come one,” said Gwen, shifting so the bags felt more balanced. “Let’s visit Killy. We can call the building office from his place.”

Linking his arm through hers, Merlin grinned. “Good enough. Come. Perhaps he will share his lunch with us.”

As they trudged up the stairs, ladened with their groceries and other shopping, Merlin went back to their previous topic, which was whether they should buy a rice cooker or not. Gwen’s stance was that a rice cooker would be more than useful to have around, seeing that it could be used to cook more than rice. Merlin’s stance was that their kitchen was too small for even more appliances. 

“Anyway, aside from the pies you seem to like to bake, we barely cook. And we have Percy now.”

“Percy’s not our private chef,” said Gwen even as she had to admit that Percy often cooked enough to feed them as well. “And if we get a rice cooker, we can cook one pot meals in them and we won’t have to depend on Percy.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” said Merlin. “Why would we want to discourage Percy from cooking for us? The way I see it, the more pathetic we seem, the more Percy will cook for us. Then we will all be happy bunnies.”

“Happy bunnies.” Gwen pressed her lips together as she shot Merlin a doubtful look, which was roundly ignored by Merlin.

“Have you ever seen an unhappy bunny?” 

“I can’t say I have but those with droopy ears don’t seem very happy.”

“Pfft,” said Merlin with a wave of his hand. “Don’t be fooled by their appearances.”

“Ok, bunny expert,” laughed Gwen. “I think this is Gaius’s place.”

When they knocked the first time, there was no answer, but Gwen could hear noises from within. She told Merlin to knock again. This time, Gwen heard latches and locks and after what seemed like several minutes, the door cracked open.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Gwen and Merlin. Remember we looked after Kilgarrah for you before?”

The door swung open and Gaius popped his head out, a frown on his face. “Who’s the skinny lad?”

“I’m Merlin. I looked after Killy.”

“Killy?” Gaius’s frown got even deeper even as he pulled the open further and stepped aside, gesturing them to enter. “You call Kilgarrah, Killy?”

Merlin shrugged. "He seemed to like it."

The apartment was smaller than Merlin’s and the furniture sparse, although what furniture there was, Gwen was pretty sure was expensive. But it wasn’t the furniture that caught her eye. It was the wall lined with photos of who Gwen assumed was a younger Gaius, dressed in the most eye-catching bright robes, a wizard’s hat haphazardly placed on his head. Perched on his shoulder was Kilgarrah. 

“Ah.” From the armchair where he was now sitting, Gaius gestured to the photos. “When I was younger. People don’t appreciate the fine art of magic nowadays.”

“Close your mouth,” hissed Gwen to Merlin who stood beside her. Then she turned and smiled widely at Gaius. “It looks like you were very successful.”

He nodded but still squinted suspiciously at her. “I was. Why are you two here?”

Gwen explained not having their keys with them as Merlin stared at the photos, his mouth, despite her reminders, still open slightly. She thought that she should count her blessings that Merlin wasn’t stroking the photos. 

“I want to learn how to do magic,” said Merlin suddenly, swinging around. “This is awesome. I want to learn it too.”

Gaius didn’t look too pleased at having a potential apprentice. Gwen tried to tell Merlin to stop it with her eyes but Merlin being Merlin merely widened his grin and started chattering about how he used to love to watch the magicians on television when he was a kid and how it would be so brilliant to be able to do some card tricks.

When Merlin finally ran out of breath, Gaius had one eyebrow raised and a contemplative look on his face. “I suppose I could do with the company.”

“I’ll pay you, of course,” said Merlin, nodded vigorously. “And I have my own pet iguana now.” 

The building manager finally arrived a good two hours later and Gwen was half-dozing on Gaius’s sofa and half-texting Lance. Around the large dining table, Gaius gave Merlin a speech about the magician’s code, then taught him some simple card tricks. Gwen sighed. She was going to be subject to ‘pick a card’ for the next few weeks at least.

Gaius might have been generous in teaching Merlin magic, but he didn’t offer them lunch so the moment the building manager opened up their flat, Gwen went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“Want an apple?”

“No thanks! Don’t you think visiting Gaius was a great idea?” Merlin hopped onto the bar stool and propped his face on his hands. “It’s fate.”

“I never knew you were interested in magic,” said Gwen as she bit into the apple. 

Merlin’s eyes twinkled. “I was when I was a kid. And you know what is even better?”

“What?”

“This is going to annoy Arthur so much.”

Two days later, Merlin came back, tossed his things onto the sofa and declared solemnly that Arthur had banned magic in the office. 

Four days later, Gwen woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink and found Merlin and Morgana hunched over their dining table, playing with cards.

"Isn't Merlin's magic cool?" Next to Morgana, Merlin shot Gwen a smug look.

Rubbing her eyes, Gwen asked, “I thought you two just liked the sex.”

“The magic is pretty good too,” said Morgana. “Almost as good as the sex.”

Gwen grabbed a bottle of water, shook her head then went back to sleep. 

Two weeks later, Gwen found Lance watching Merlin in awe as he did another of this tricks.

“Not you too!”

Laughing, Lance pulled her to the sofa, kissed her and tucked her close to him. “He’s good. It’s like he’s a natural.”

“Gwen is very unimpressed,” said Merlin, layering his voice with a thick coat of sadness.

Gwen grabbed a cushion and threw it at Merlin.


	11. Chapter 11

Gwen looked around her. At least the kids looked like they were enjoying themselves, she thought as a girl with hair covered with clay darted past her screaming followed by a boy with clay in his hands. And nobody was bleeding. She should count it as a victory, really. And if everything was a little chaotic, it was really the teacher’s fault – the teacher who said that she would be around to help, until she wasn’t.

“Look what I made, Ms Gwen!” Another boy – Greg? Brad? – held out a hand to her. 

Warily, Gwen opened up her palm and let the boy put his creation into her hand. It most definitely wasn’t the pinch pot that she had been trying to teach them. Looking down at her palm, Gwen saw little balls of clay. “What is it?”

“Cat poo!” And with those words, he ran off, presumably to make more cat poo.

Dropping the clay into a bag, Gwen sighed and clapped her hands, hoping to get the little monsters’ attention. “Children! Can we go back to our seats now?”

A few kids wandered back to their seats but the girl with clay hair and the boy chasing her continued to run around. 

“What’s their names?” Gwen asked another kid who was still pinching her pot with extreme seriousness. “And I think you’ve pinched your pot too much. It’s going to fall apart.”

“They’re Rachel and Mike.” The girl’s voice dropped to a whisper and she looked up at Gwen and nodded solemnly. “I think they like each other.”

The last thing Gwen was concerned with was the love life of eleven year olds. “Rachel! Mike! Get back to your seats or you’ll have to clean up the classroom! Rachel! Mike!”

As Rachel ran past her again, Gwen grabbed her shoulder, halting her. Mike slammed into her back and they both screamed again. One hand on each of them, Gwen ushered them back to their seats, firmly warning them not to get up again. Both looked up innocently at her.

“Ms Gwen! Is that your boyfriend?”

What on earth would Lance be doing here? Patting at her hair, hoping she didn’t look as frazzled as she felt, she turned to the entrance of the studio. 

Merlin grinned and waved at her. Thank goodness he’d received her message asking for help. He lifted his arms, showing her takeout from her favourite coffee shop. It was enough to make her smile.

“What’s his name?”

“Are you going to marry him?”

“He has funny ears!”

Gwen opened the door to let Merlin in. “Oh thank you for coming.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“I need to start cleaning up and collecting their pots for firing. Do you think you could entertain them for a while?”

“I am a natural with children,” said Merlin. “Especially now that I know magic.”

Immediately the class burst into excitement. “Magic! I want to see magic! Can you cut yourself in half?”

Gesturing to the little monsters – Mike was already half out of his seat despite the threats, Gwen smiled. “They are all yours.”

Much later, Gwen and Merlin walked out of the studio and towards the large central park, slightly worse for wear. Slipping her arm through Merlin, Gwen sipped gratefully at the coffee he’d bought her. “I am never doing a children’s class again. And I still have one more session with those monsters so they can paint their pots or whatever they are. If only I was rich.”

“Think about it,” said Merlin. “If you were rich, you wouldn’t be living with me and that would be a huge shame.”

“It would,” Gwen agreed, then smiled up at him. “Thanks for helping today.”

“No problem. It’s ego boosting to have a bunch of kids look at you in awe. You know, I think Arthur has a soft spot for you.”

Gwen elbowed Merlin. “Don’t be silly. We barely know each other.”

“Well, he kicked up a big fuss about me leaving work early but he stopped the moment I mentioned I was going to help you close up class.”

Gwen huffed, then took another sip of coffee. "It's Saturday so I don't know why he has you at work.”

“You’re working on a Saturday too. Anyway, the company is planning to launch a new – oh.”

“Oh?” Gwen looked at Merlin, who was staring open-mouthed in the distance. “What?”

Merlin frowned then shook his head. “Nothing. Thought I saw a unicorn. Anyway, as I was saying –“

Shielding her eyes from the sun, Gwen peered in the direction Merlin had been staring. “Morgana.”

“Yeah. Guess she’s out enjoying the park like we are. Getting back to what I was saying –“

“Who’s the guy with her?” 

Merlin shrugged even as he refused to meet her eyes. “I don’t know. I imagine he’s one of the many men in her harem.”

“Hmmm.” Gwen stopped walking, forcing Merlin to stop as well.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I’m wondering if you’re jealous.”

“No. It’s hot. Shall we make our way home?”

Biting down on her lip to stop the smile that wanted to escape, Gwen shook her head. “I think we should go over and say hi.”

“That’s a terrible idea. And look at them – they are practically wrapped around each other. Wouldn’t want to break their connection.”

This time, Gwen smiled. "You are jealous! I can hear it in your voice.”

Pulling his arm from Gwen, Merlin stalked ahead. “I am not. I told you that the only thing between us is sex. Meaningless sex.”

“Right.” But when Gwen caught up with Merlin and saw the annoyance in his face, she felt bad. “Look, that guy has nothing on you. You’re so much better looking. I bet he doesn’t even know any magic and Morgana likes your magic.”

Merlin rolled his eyes but managed a grin. “Call me Magic Merlin. A hit with all the people.”

“Especially pre-teens.”

“Especially them. They adored me.”

+

Figuring that it was her duty as Merlin’s buddy to find out about the competition, Gwen called Morgana later that day on the pretext of arranging a girl’s night out. 

"I saw you today at the park.”

“Why didn’t you come and say hi?” 

“You looked busy. Who’s the new man in your life?” Crossing her fingers, Gwen hoped she’d said it as flippantly as possible.

“Oh some guy I met at one of those fancy parties my dad likes to organize. You really should come to another one!”

“Nope. The first time wasn’t that fun. So, tell me about this new man.”

“You’re awfully curious. Are you spying for Merlin?”

Gwen shook her head, even though she knew Morgana couldn’t see her. “No. Of course not.”

“I quite like the idea of jealous Merlin,” said Morgana somewhat absently. “Tell him that Claude –“

“Claude! What a name!”

Morgana giggled into the phone. “I know! Anyway, tell Merlin than Claude is charming and rich and good in bed and that my father considers him a very appropriate husband.”

“Morgana –“

“Or you can tell him that Claude’s boring and returning home in two days and I can’t wait to get rid of him and the next time my father guilts me into entertaining his friend’s son, I will stab him with a fork, should I have one handy.”

“Really?”

“No, never mind. I’m not doing anything tonight so I’ll come by and tell Merlin myself. Better make sure you have your earplugs,” said Morgana with far too much glee. “Because I’m going to get him to prove his worth.”

Smothering her face into her pillow, Gwen groaned. “I didn’t need to know this.”

“Then you shouldn’t be such a busybody. Now, tell me about you and Lance. I heard that he bought you some jewelry yesterday. Does this mean it’s serious?”

Flushing, Gwen let Morgana change the subject.


	12. Chapter 12

"You look terrible," said Merlin as he drowned his morning cereal in milk. "Want a coffee?"

Gwen's stomach lurched at the thought and she shook her head. "Water."

"Warm?" Without waiting for her answer, Merlin flipped the switch on the kettle, then turned to stare at her, his brows drawn together. "You look really terrible."

"You said that already." Gwen leaned against the kitchen counter and put one hand to her throbbing head. With her other hand, she kept a piece of tissue pressed against her leaking nose. Her eyelids felt heavy and her throat scratchy. She closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them again, the room would stop swaying.

A warm hand landed on her forehead and her eyes shot open. "Wha –"

"You have a fever!"

Gwen groaned and let her eyes shut again. "It's not a fever."

Lightly, Merlin wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her out of the kitchen. "Come on. Let's get you back to bed. Tea and honey and lots of rest will soon sort you out."

"I have a commission due next week and an afternoon class," said Gwen but there was little bite in her voice and she allowed Merlin to walk her all the way back to her bed.

Back in bed, Gwen lay there as Merlin pottered around, pushing and pulling at her covers. He stopped, eventually, and stood at the foot of her bed, looking very pleased with himself.

"Don't move. I'm going to bring you some tea."

Gwen closed her eyes again, and sniffed into the tissue.

She was dancing, someone leading her around the dance floor as bright stars twinkled overhead. Where was the ceiling? Gwen wasn't quite sure. The ground felt funny and she looked down. Mud. Soft, squishy mud. Yet the heels she wore magically didn't sink into it. Maybe it was the man, whose strong arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, who was holding her up. Lance, she thought but he smelled different from Lance, in a good way, warm with a hint of mint. In the background, an orchestra played a tune that she recognized but couldn't name.

"What are the coordinates?" She knew that impatient voice too but like the music, she couldn't quite remember. Were they still dancing? Because it was warm now and her legs ached.

Something (someone?) rubbed her back.

"Hey. Gwen."

That someone pressed something cold against her forehead.

Gwen's eyes shot open. Merlin. He was perched on the edge of her bed, a frown on his face.

She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him she was fine, but all that came out from her mouth was a hoarse rasp that, instead of assuring Merlin of her well-being, only deepened his frown.

"Come, let's get you up." Gently, Merlin eased one arm under her and tugged. "Hot water, biscuits and some paracetamol."

The thought of eating anything, even medication, made her stomach flip flop and she shook her head. "I need –"

"You need to eat this, then go back to sleep," said Merlin, more firmly than she'd ever heard him talk before. "Any lessons today? Do you need me to call anyone to cancel?"

"No." Gwen struggled up and swung her legs off her bed. Supporting herself with a hand on Merlin's shoulder, she stood, pleased when she didn't even shiver. The floor moved a little and her heart pounded like she'd just run a marathon but Merlin didn't need to know that. And they were just minor things that a warm shower would fix. She was fine. "I can't cancel – hey. Stop it."

"You are burning up. You're going back into bed."

Gwen had to admit being in bed was a lot less taxing than standing, so when Merlin eased her back onto the bed, she only put up a token resistance. Anyway, it was still morning and her lesson was only in the late afternoon. A short nap and she would be as right as rain.

"Drink this and take the pills."

"Bossy," she muttered as she put the pills into her mouth and sipped at the tea. The warm tea going down her throat felt good and she drank a little more. When she raised her eyes from the mug, Merlin was still standing next to her bed, staring down at her.

"I'm going to take the day off. Lance is out of town, isn't he?"

Gwen waved her arm, forgetting that she was holding the mug. Warm tea sloshed onto her covers and she groaned. "Isn't work busy? Your boss –" That was who had been in her dream! Merlin's smug, rude boss. Her brain was clearly a lot more affected by whatever that bug she had caught than she thought.

"Arthur can survive a day without me. You, on the other hand –"

"Am perfectly fine. I took the medicine and now, I'll rest a while. I'll be fine in a few hours. Don't worry about me." Hoping to make her point, she reached out and gave Merlin a shove. It ended up being more like her flapping her hand at him and it definitely didn't stop Merlin from frowning at her. "Go. You're stressing me out."

That was enough to make Merlin move. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Take care. You're sick so no getting out of bed, ok? Call me if you need anything. I'll drop by at lunch time."

Gwen nodded, mentally crossing her fingers. Once Merlin left, she'd take a nice, warm shower which would make her feel better, then maybe she could work a little on her commission before the lesson with the slightly eccentric but very generous Annis Caerleon. When she heard the main door shut, Gwen closed her eyes. She would take a quick ten minute nap, then take her shower.

It was a wedding. It had to be a wedding, with all the doves and flowers and hearts. Morgana was with her, saying something about her brother but Gwen couldn't seem to understand her words because she had caught sight of herself in the mirror. In a wedding dress. She turned to ask Morgana what was happening when she realized she was now in a tent, strangely like the one she had her fortune read with Merlin. The young man was there, standing in for his mother again, she supposed. "I hope you made the right choice."

Why was Morgana's voice coming out of the fortune teller's mouth?

"It is the right choice. You and I –"

Merlin. Gwen struggled to open her eyes. The liar hadn't gone to work! Instead, he'd gone off and fetched Morgana. She was fine, just a little sniffly. She pressed a tissue to her nose, willing it to stop dripping as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. Her head objected, throbbing wildly with every move she made and her stomach still felt very sensitive. Ignoring all that, Gwen got out of bed. Goodness, it was cold. What happened to summer?

"I told you –" Gwen leaned heavily against her door frame and her words died on her tongue when she saw the scene in front of her. Morgana was the queen of hiding her emotions but Gwen could see the hurt and anger in her eyes. Although Merlin's back was facing her, the stiffness in his posture made Gwen think that he wasn't feeling much differently.

She wanted to return to her bedroom but Morgana caught sight of her. "Gwen! You should be in bed."

Merlin turned, his face cold but he managed a slight smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I should be in bed. And that's where I'm going right now. You two do whatever you two were doing."

Without a glance at Merlin, Morgana swept past him and towards Gwen. "Let me help you. I got Sefa to make some chicken soup for you."

"Really, I'm fine and I have a class at 3."

Morgana smirked. "Cancel it and rest."

"I'm fine. I just need a shower." Gwen stopped next to her bed as her room swayed. Gripping her bedside table, she steadied herself.

"Right. I'll be out here in case you faint."

"I won't," muttered Gwen as she slowly made her way to the bathroom. "Stop hovering. And what's up between you and Merlin?"

That got Morgana to stop following her. "Nothing. It wasn't a permanent thing anyway. Also, Merlin is an unreasonable ass, no matter how good he is in the sack."

"Huh," said Gwen. Normally, she would be a lot more interested but her head was still hurting and she really needed that shower.

The shower was lovely. Hot water ran down her body, chasing away the chills and she felt a lot more human as she toweled herself dry. But by the time she pulled on her clothes, the headache was back, her stomach was rolling and her nose started leaking once again. There was no doubt about it. She was sick. And Gwen hated being sick – not just because of how awful she felt, but because of how boring it was to stay in bed.

Morgana sat in the armchair in the corner of her bedroom, her long legs crossed at her ankles. "Feeling better?"

"Not really. I think I'm sick."

With a roll of her eyes, Morgana stood. "I could have told you that. Now, if my memory serves me well, I remember that you're a horrible patient, although, at least we've gotten past your denial of being sick. Anyway, I came prepared."

"Prepared?" Gwen sank into her bed, grateful as it embraced her.

"I have your favourite movies, a manicure and pedicure set, wine for me and fancy maduka honey that I stole from Arthur's larder. Sefa will bring over her great chicken soup later."

"Manuka. It's Manuka honey."

"Whatever. The point is that it costs an arm and a leg. Do these bees have golden butts or something?"

Gwen laughed, and her nose joined in the fun by leaking even more. "Where's Merlin?"

"He left. Back to work I guess."

"Hmm. Will you tell me about you and Merlin?"

"Maybe. If you don't whine too much or refuse to cancel your 3pm class." Morgana's gaze flicked to her nails and a cool mask descended over her face, clear signals that no matter how flippant she was acting, she was hurting.

Perhaps she should let Morgana fuss over her. It would take her mind off whatever was happening between her and Merlin. "Ok," said Gwen. "Let's start with the pedicure."

"Good choice," said Morgana. "Your toenails look terrible."


	13. Chapter 13

“Pick a card.”

“Really, Merlin?” With a sigh, Gwen reached out and plucked one from the array he held in his hand. “Do I look?”

“Nope.” Deftly, Merlin swiped the card from Gwen, then grinned. “Congratulations! You have won yourself a temporary boyfriend for the weekend.”

Gwen snatched the card back from him and stared at the red diamonds. “I already have a great boyfriend, thank you very much.” Aithusa wandered over and took a nip of the card. “Shoo! Now, what is this all about? Are you planning to become a comedian as well as a magician?”

With a clearly exaggerated, long-suffering sigh, Merlin slump into his seat and pulled that face he did whenever he wanted Gwen to do him a favour. In return, she scowled.

“My mother is visiting next weekend.”

“Ok.”

“And she might be under the impression that I had a girlfriend.”

Gwen stifled a laugh. “You told her about Morgana?”

It was Merlin’s turn to scowl. “No. I did not tell her about Morgana because there was nothing between Morgana and I -”

“- except lots of hot sex -”

“And anyway, Morgana and I have gone our separate ways. And I need a girlfriend for my mother.”

Gwen raised her eyebrows. “Your mother is looking for love again? I am sure your mother is a wonderful woman but I’m not -”

“You know what I mean.”

“Just tell her you broke up with Morgana!” This time, Aithusa nipped Gwen’s finger. With a sigh, Gwen picked up the iguana and set her back into her box. “Your mother will understand.”

Merlin dropped a piece of lettuce into the box, then cooed at Aithusa for a bit. “She would, normally. But her best friend’s husband just passed away and it’s made my mother all weepy about love and life and how, if I don’t get a significant other soon, I’m going to die alone, surrounded by iguanas. And she got it in her head to introduce me to all her friends’ kids.”

“So you decided to lie to her.”

He shrugged. “It’s just a teeny one. Just for the weekend. Just so she can feel comforted that her only, beloved son isn’t going to die alone. She thinks it’s her fault that I’m unattached.”

“Surely there is someone else you can ask?”

“I did ask Arthur, but he threw something at me, so I assumed that was a ‘no’. Pity. My mother would have loved him.” Merlin shuffled his deck of cards. “So, will you do it? Please?”

Gwen figured she had one of two choices - she could say no and suffer Merlin’s whining and cajoling for the rest of the week, complete with sad, pathetic faces or she could just cave in right now.

It was a tough decision.

* * *

 

The moment Merlin’s mother declared, “Call me Hunith!” and pulled Gwen into a tight hug, Gwen found it hard to dislike her, even if she was the reason Gwen was now pretending to be Merlin’s girlfriend. Hunith had a kind smile and eyes that sparkled with both humour and cunning. And she was definitely cunning, because she looked nothing like a woman in despair, blaming herself for the emptiness of her son’s life. Instead, after Hunith handed out the most extravagant gifts, she bustled around their flat, sighing over Gwen’s art, cooing over Aithusa and frowning over their empty refrigerator.

“I’m so glad I visited! You two need some looking after.” Hunith closed the door of the fridge and patted Merlin’s cheek.

Merlin grimaced. “We do alright. You just said I looked good.”

“You do. You look happy.” Hunith squeezed Gwen’s arm. “I’m sure that you have plenty to do with that. The joys of young love.”

“Ah.” Gwen cleared her throat. “Merlin is very good to me too.”

Hunith nodded, pride in her eyes. “I might be a little biased but Merlin has always been a good boy.”

Gwen slipped an arm into Hunith’s. “Speaking of Merlin as a boy, how about we sit down and you can tell me all about when he was a kid. Merlin will get us some tea, won’t you, darling?”

Merlin’s grimace got a little tenser. “Of course.”

* * *

 

“I can take the floor,” said Merlin as the two of them stood in his bedroom and stared at the unmade bed that dominated the room.

“We are both adults. We can share a bed for a weekend.”

By 2am, Gwen was regretting her words. Not only did Merlin hog the covers, he also kicked. No wonder Morgana and him had so much sex whenever she stayed the night. It must have been better than the alternative of actually sleeping in the bed with him, thought Gwen as she yanked at the covers, trying to pull it over her body.

By 3:14am, Gwen gave up on the covers - who knew Merlin weighed so much unconscious - and grabbed a random t-shirt from his drawers and tugged it over her head. Then rummaging through more drawers, she found socks which she put them on as well. Tomorrow night, he would sleep on the floor. With a groan, Merlin turned and removed the tiny bit of blanket from Gwen’s grasp.

At 7:43am, Merlin woke her up by sniggering in her ear.

“You look silly.”

Gwen did the only thing possible - she swatted him with a pillow.

* * *

 

Despite her misgivings at pretending to be Merlin’s girlfriend, the weekend passed with little problems. In the end, all it took was a little hand holding, the occasional pecks on the cheek and an endearment or two. Hunith was easy to be with and between leisurely lunches at cafes people-watching and Gwen found herself, early Sunday morning, after yet another sleepless night, sitting at the table with her, sipping coffee as Merlin continued his sprawl across his bed.

“I wish I had your artistic talents.”

Gwen smiled. “It’s not exactly making me rich.”

“But is that what you want?” Hunith smiled at Gwen over her cup. “I think what you and Merlin have built is nice. This is a lovely apartment and you are happy doing what you do, right?”

“Mmm. I am.”

“Well then -”

Gwen’s front door slammed open. “Hello! Anyone home? Percy needs some eggs and I told him that you and Merlin have nothing except canned food in your kitchen but he sent me to check anyway.” Elyan stomped into the kitchen. “Hey Gwen! Oh, you have company.”

“Elyan!” Gwen’s cup clattered onto the saucer and coffee spilled onto the table. “I didn’t realise you were at Percy’s this weekend.”

Elyan frowned. “I’m almost always at Percy’s. Hi! I’m Elyan. Gwen’s brother.”

Hunith stood, a wide grin stretched across her face. “How wonderful to meet you! I’m Hunith, Merlin’s mother.”

“Good to meet you too.” Elyan looked around. “So where’s Merlin?”

“He’s still asleep. So what is it you said Percy wanted? Percy is Elyan’s boyfriend and the guy next door.” Standing, Gwen moved to open her larder. Elyan might claim her kitchen was full of instant and frozen food, but she did cook occasionally so it wasn’t a complete wasteland.

When Elyan didn’t answer, Gwen turned to see him frowning at the living area. “What?”

Elyan took her hand and dragged her away. “That idiot didn’t make you sleep on the sofa, did he?”

“What? Oh no - uh - he moved back into his room early this morning.” Gwen nudged him towards the kitchen. “How many eggs did Percy want?”

Instead of moving, Elyan crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Three eggs.”

“Here. Now go spend time with Percy.” Gwen pushed Elyan towards the door. From the corner of her eye, Gwen could see Hunith watching them curiously. “Thanks for dropping by.”

Elyan grumbled as he shuffled to the door. “You’re being very strange. Are you missing your darling Lance?”

“Darling Lance?” Hunith asked. Her cup in her hand, she had left the little breakfast nook and was now standing just slightly behind Gwen.

“He’s my pet dog -”

Elyan’s eyes widened. “That’s one way to -”

Gwen shoved him harder. “He’s at the vet right now, because of an infection,” she said, as explanation to Hunith whose curiosity had now morphed into confusion.

“Merlin never mentioned he had a dog! Only Aithusa.”

Elyan laughed as he stumbled across the threshold. “That must be why Lance and Aithusa don’t get along. Dogs and igunas -”

“Bye Elyan. Tell Percy his carrot cake was divine.” With a firm push, Gwen closed the door, then sighed and dropped her forehead against the wood.

“Is everything ok?” Hunith asked.

Gwen turned and flashed a huge smile. “Wonderful.”

* * *

 

Hunith hugged Gwen. “Thank you for your hospitality this weekend.”

“It was no trouble. It has been great having you around.” Gwen hugged Hunith back. She genuinely liked Hunith, which made her lying to Hunith all the more uncomfortable. They were going to have to tell Hunith that they broke up one day, then how would Hunith feel about her?

“And thank you for playing along with my silly son’s idea to make me think he’s attached.” Hunith released Gwen from the hug and held her at arm’s length. “I like you a lot and it’s a pity he’s not dating you.” At those words, Hunith looked pointedly at Merlin whose face was now a bright red.

Gwen’s heart sank and she studied Hunith’s face for any sign of anger.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he scuffed the carpet with his foot. “When did you know?”

“I suspected something was up when you two said you had separate rooms in the same flat.” Amusement glinted in Hunith’s eyes as she shook her head. “Then there was ‘darling Lance, the dog’ and the fact that you two had the most awkward physical contact. Plus, the girl Merlin sometimes mentioned sounded nothing like you.”

“To be fair, if we were really dating,we would very likely have separate rooms. Merlin is terrible to sleep with.”

Merlin spun to face her. “Hey!”

“It is true. You hog the blankets and you keep moving. I’m amazed you don’t fall off the bed, frankly.” Gwen’s smile faded as she turned to face Hunith. “I’m really sorry we lied to you.”

Hunith let out a sigh. “I am a little disappointed in Merlin.”

“I’m sorry! I just didn’t want to be introduced to all those people you keep talking about.” Merlin stuffed his hands into his pockets and put on that pitiful face again. Gwen was glad to see that she wasn’t the only one who succumbed to it, because Hunith sighed one more time, then hugged Merlin tightly.

“I just want you to be happy, Merlin. And not alone.”

“I’m not alone, mum. I have Gwen and Percy and even Arthur.”

Hunith hugged Merlin again. “Ok. But if you ever want to meet anyone -”

“Mum!”

* * *

 

Aithusa crawled from Merlin’s lap to Gwen’s and bit her finger. “She’s always biting me,” grumbled Gwen as the theme song for Brighton Beach came on.

“That’s because she loved you,” said Merlin. He stuffed another handful of crisps into his mouth. “My mum’s visit didn’t go too badly.”

“You mean she didn’t disown you after your lie. You are a terrible son.”  
“You lied too.”

Grabbing a cushion, Gwen smacked Merlin. “You made me!”

Merlin lifted his arms up and scrambled to the corner of the sofa. “I’m just saying, Merlin made me do it, is not a viable defense in court.”

“Ooh, watch what you say. I’ll never do you a favour again.”

With a laugh, Merlin tossed the cushion back at Gwen. “That’s what you say now.” Then he slung an arm across her shoulders. “It’s true though. I’m glad you moved in with me.”

“So I can be your criminal accomplice,” muttered Gwen, but she grinned up at Merlin.

He grinned back at her.


	14. Chapter 14

Gwen squealed as someone rode a bike over her toe. That someone in pigtails and a pink dress turned and stuck a tongue out at her, as if Gwen was at fault for placing her foot there.

“Why do you think people keep covering Santa Baby?” Merlin asked as the song wafted through the crowded mall. “I mean, none of them will ever be as great as Eartha Kitt, so it seems like a pointless endeavour.”

A little boy slammed into Gwen, then promptly burst into tears, earning Gwen a dirty look from who she assumed was the father. “This is a pointless endeavour,” said Gwen. “This is why online shopping was invented. So we didn’t have to venture to the shops a week before Christmas.”

“If you think I’m going to expose my credit card to scam artists online, you don’t know me that well.”

Bumping his shoulder, Gwen shook her head. “You are living in the dark ages. Right, now we’re here. Where’s your shopping list?”

Merlin patted his pockets, then took out a crumpled piece of paper. “Here.” He squinted at it. “Umm, can you read it? My handwriting -”

With a sigh, Gwen snatched it from his hand. “Alright. Orthopedic pillow for your mother. Ugly mug for the prat. Cute mug for Gwen -” Gwen raised her eyebrows. “Mug with pictures of food for Percy and mug with pictures of horses for Elyan - Merlin, you’re buying mugs for everyone. Look, mug with nasty quote for youknowwho. Morgana is getting a mug too?”

He shrugged. “They are kind of personalised.”

“Merlin. Gift giving is an art!”

He grabbed the shopping list from Gwen. “That’s why I bribed you to come with me. I thought you might have some suggestions. You always give the best gifts.”

“I am not some kind of gift genie. And I want a gift card from Art Style.”

“I saw a really cute mug -”

“Merlin!”

He grinned, then slipped his arm through Gwen’s tugging her so she didn’t trip over a little tyke who decided that the middle of a busy shopping mall was the best place to sit down and play with his toys.

After hours of going into every shop the mall had to offer, it was a relief to finally find an empty table in the expensive, crowded coffee shop and sink into the comfortable chair.

“Your usual?” Merlin asked. “My treat.”

“As it should be,” said Gwen as she fished out her phone.

Merlin stopped in mid-turn away from the table and frowned. “Don’t.”

“Maybe I have messages from a potential client or maybe Elyan -”

Warm fingers covered her hand. “Did you block him?”

“No.”

“I’ll do it.”

“No! Maybe -” Gwen pulled her phone back. “Maybe he changed his mind.” Then she looked up at Merlin, who was still frowning down at her. “You never know, right?”

Merlin’s frown deepened and he pressed his lips together, clearly not wanting to start the argument they had had two days ago.

“I’ll be fine. Get me a cheesecake as well?”

“You’ll be ok?”

“I’ll be fine on my own for ten minutes.”

Merlin gave her a look, which Gwen interpreted as the”don’t you dare call the bastard” look, which was completely unnecessary since she wasn’t going to call the bastard, although admittedly, she had brought up his number on her phone several times over the last few days. But all she did was stare at the familiar number and the stupid photo of the two of them making silly faces in a photo booth. Checking that Merlin was out of view, Gwen tapped her phone, turning the screen on.

A message from Percy reminding her about his Christmas party. A message from Morgana checking on her.

Nothing from Lance.

Even knowing it was foolish, Gwen opened their message log. The last message from Lance mocked her, undoing whatever healing she had managed to do over the past week.

Gwen, we need to talk.

So cliched. Just like the reason he broke up with her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears that had suddenly developed to not shed. Not in a public place. And not in front of Merlin who was already chafing at the bit to find an excuse to yell at Lance (he wasn’t the physically violent kind)

“What you need is a one night stand.” A tray landed on the table in front of her. “How about that guy. He was standing in front of me and he has a good body.”

Putting her phone away, Gwen opened her eyes and followed the direction of Merlin’s finger. “As usual, your taste in men is impeccable. He does look good.”

A smug smile took up residence on Merlin’s face. “I have it on good authority - mine - that he smells like a dream too.”

“Firstly, that is creepy. Secondly, I am not a one night stand person.” She narrowed her eyes at Merlin. “This whole shopping expedition was an excuse to drag me out of the house, wasn’t it?”

“A little bit? Moping around at home over that jerk is a waste of time.”

“And tripping over the crowd to do last minute Christmas shopping is not?”

“You enjoyed it,” said Merlin with a grin. “You love buying gifts.”

“Maybe. And maybe for a few hours, I didn’t think about Lance,” conceded Gwen. Then, she sighed. “Look at us - both single for Christmas and the new year.”

“Ah,” said Merlin, his cheeks suddenly reddening. “About that -”

+

Gwen sipped her beer, leaned her hips against the kitchen counter and watched as Percy did something to the large slab of meat on the table. Whatever it was he was doing, Gwen was pretty certain that the dinner would be delicious, and she was already salivating at the thought. People said that break ups during the holiday season were the worst, but the Gwen begged to differ. The busy holiday season - when commissions were coming in fast and furious, together with the many gatherings and Merlin’s dogged insistence on spending every possible moment with her - gave her little time to dwell on the whys and what ifs of her breakup with Lance. Other than a long, tearful conversation with Morgana, who had offered to skin and chop Lance into little bits, then feed him to her dog, Gwen thought she was coping remarkably well.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

Percy lifted his head and snorted. “After what you and Merlin did with the mince pies? Maybe you can wash up later. Ow!”

“It was just a little burnt.” Gwen tried for a pout, but could stop a smile from breaking through.

“They were instant mince pies, Gwen. The only thing you had to do, was not burn them.”

Gwen smacked him again with the dish cloth. “Blame Merlin. He was showing me yet another of his card tricks.”

“Please don’t tell me that is the entertainment tonight.”

“You need to compare it to the alternative - Aithusa performing.” She took another sip of the beer, then grinned at Percy’s face. “She’ll sit in the middle of the table and stare at everyone with her beady eyes.”

“I heard that and I resent it!” Merlin walked into the kitchen, together with Elyan who was holding a large bag of groceries. “Aithusa does not have beady eyes.”

Elyan laughed, then, after dropping the bag on a table, walked over to Percy, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “She does though. Here, I got the rest of the food stuff. Need help?”

“You can peel potatoes.”

“Hey!” said Gwen. “Why is it he can peel the potatoes?”

“Come on, Gwen. You can help me with my new trick.” Snagging her hand, Merlin tugged her towards the living room. “Let’s give the lovebirds back their kitchen.”

With a roll of her eyes, another gulp of beer, Gwen obediently followed Merlin into the living room.

+

Dinner was, not surprisingly, delicious and Gwen stuffed herself full of lamb and potatoes. But what was better than the dinner was sitting around the table with her closest friends. Even Morgana was supposed to drop by later after her family dinner for dessert, now that, miraculously, Merlin and her had patched things up. Gwen suspected that it didn’t take much for them to patch things up - just another round of energetic sex.

They settled down on Percy’s plush sofas for ice-cream and Elyan shared a story about a particularly difficult customer at his work place, causing the whole table to erupt in laughter.

“It wasn’t funny then!”

“No,” said Merlin, swiping at his eyes, “I imagine not. But that image -”

“- of your colleague being humped by that dog is hilarious in my mind,” said Percy. “More ice-cream anyone?”

Merlin slumped into his chair, echoing how Gwen felt. “No, thank you. This was so good but my stomach is stuffed.”

“Me too,” said Gwen on a sigh, rubbing her stomach. “Thank you, Percy for the great meal.”

“Here, give me your bowls.”

Just as Percy stood, the doorbell rang. Immediately, all eyes turned to Merlin, who looked back at Gwen. “She’s your best friend.”

“Merlin,” purred Morgana when he opened the door. “Hello everyone. I brought someone. I had to stop world war three from breaking out in the Pendragon mansion.” Shrugging off her coat, Morgana stepped aside to reveal her brother.

+

Gwen doubled over with laughter as Percy and Elyan danced with more passion than skill to Diamonds. Merlin and Morgana had finished their dance off with Morgana showing off dance skills Gwen never knew she possessed. Now, they were seated at the other end of the sofa, squabbling over whether Merlin’s stumble into Morgana was a cunning ploy by him to make her lose. since, as Morgana said, he was as graceful as a penguin on stilts and had as much rhythm as a rock and there was no way he could win on merit.

“You know, we are next.” Arthur was next to her, frowning into his phone. “How about Anaconda? Or Bang Bang?”

“How about something nice and slow?” Gwen shifted so she could peer at the song list Arthur had pulled up on his phone. “Like Royals.”

Arthur turned his head, and suddenly Gwen was looking directly into his eyes. His face was so close to hers she could see the faint scar on his chin. Her eyes, having no shame, dropped to his lips while her brain started to wonder what it would be like if she closed the tiny distance and pressed her lips against his. Why her body parts were acting so ridiculously, Gwen had no idea. She waited for him to say something, but he continued to stare at her.

Then he lifted a hand and touched her, so softly she barely registered the touch. “You have freckles.” The words were soft, and his warm breath brushed against her cheek.

Oh god. Arthur Pendragon was annoyingly attractive and her heart, like her eyes and brain, was turning into mush.

“Hey! It’s your turn!” Elyan flung himself onto an armchair. “Make me proud, sis. I trashed Percy.”

“What song?” Percy asked.

Arthur, his cheeks flushed red, suddenly moved away and stood up. “Royals. Gwen’s request.” Then he turned and, clearly having regained his composure, winked at her, turning whatever was left of her heart into a puddle. He stretched out a hand. “Come on. Let’s see you move.”

Despite being Morgana’s half-brother, Arthur’s skill at dancing resembled Merlin’s, giving Gwen an easy win. But in the end, despite Elyan and Gwen’s best efforts, Morgana reigned champion. Merlin showed off a few of his magic tricks and then they watched a holiday movie together. All the time, Arthur sat next to her on the sofa, every comment he made directed to her.

It was a great night.

But, later back in her bed, what Gwen remembered most of all was Arthur Pendragon and his blue eyes and his smile.

“Maybe, if you wanted that is, we could have coffee together,” Arthur had whispered to her as they were saying their goodbyes. “Just - maybe.”

Then, Morgana was hugging her and reminding her of their next lunch date and Arthur was gone, even before she could answer him.

Gwen closed her eyes.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays everyone! :)


	15. Chapter 15

Gwen never had that coffee with Arthur. He made no attempt to contact her. Instead, after the holidays, Lance returned, grovelled and spun her tales of woe and contrition so compelling that she found herself agreeing to have dinner with him again. That turned into another two dates before she firmly told Lance that it wasn’t working. As it turned out, she missed being in a relationship more than she missed Lance.

“I could have told you that it wouldn’t work out with Lance. He always struck me as a little boring,” said Merlin as he passed her a mug of tea before sprawling on the sofa next to her. “Did you want relationship advice from me? Because I just finished The Soulmate Experience. Brilliant stuff.”

Aithusa crawled onto Gwen’s lap, her beady eyes staring unblinkingly at Gwen.

“Are you reading it to improve your relationship with Aithusa?” Gwen picked the iguana up and deposited it on Merlin’s lap.

“Funny,” said Merlin, jabbing Gwen in the side, laughing when she squealed. “I am always looking to expand my knowledge on all things. When my first white hair hits, I’ll be all-knowing.”

“And this has nothing to do with your on-again-off-again sex-only relationship with Morgana?”

Merlin jabbed her once more. “No. Now if it is not relationship advice you wanted from me, what did you want?”

“There’s an art conference in Essetir in two weeks, and I was invited to be on a panel on art and education.” Gwen shifted a little, always slightly embarrassed at talking about her own successes.

Merlin let out a whistle. “Impressive! Did you need me to rehearse your presentation? Help you shop for a suitable wardrobe? Attend the panel and yell out encouraging cheers?”

“The panel is going to bore you.”

“Not if it’s you up there.” Merlin’s grin suddenly fell and he crossed his arms. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re about to hit it big and then find your own lodging. I’m not helping if this is all a precursor to you moving out.”

“Don’t be silly. It’s just a panel. And why would I give up such a great roommate?” Merlin actually flushed at her words and Gwen laughed. “Although this whole situation with the iguanas -”

Merlin snatched up Aithusa. “We are a package deal.”

“And there’s the magic -”

He glowered at her, a hilarious sight with Aithusa clawing at his face to be let down.

“Actually, I need a ride to Essetir. The train schedule doesn’t really work for me. I’ll either have to miss a class or possibly turn up later than I’m comfortable with. So I was thinking that we could make it a little weekend vacation! There’s a Magic and Toy Museum nearby and we could go to the beach.”

“It’s a bit chilly for the beach but I’m all for this. I could do with a weekend break. Only, if you haven’t realised by now, I don’t have a car.”

“We could rent one? I’ll pay for it.”

Merlin frowned slightly. “Actually, I have a better idea.”

It was then that Gwen realised that Aithusa had returned to her lap and was now dipping her little head into her quickly cooling tea.

* * *

Wallet. Laptop. Notes. Certain that she had everything important, Gwen picked up her bags, closed the door to her bedroom and walked out to the living room. She had hoped, futilely she knew, that Merlin would be ready and waiting.

He wasn’t.

“Merlin!”

“Give me a moment!” Half an hour later, Merlin emerged from his room, a small duffle bag in his hand. “Right! I’m ready. Shall we?”

“What car did you rent? Something sexy?” Merlin had been pretty secretive about the car but that hadn’t stopped Gwen from dropping hints about what kind of car she preferred. They had agreed that this weekend would be a bit of a splurge for them, and Gwen was hoping that this meant a cool ride to Essetir.

“Well,” said Merlin, “the car is definitely sexy and some say that the driver is pretty sexy too. I don’t see it, to be honest.”

“A driver?” Gwen’s eyes widened. “That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Oh, he’s working for free and I thought, why not?”

“Free!”

Merlin nodded, then grabbed both his duffel bag and Gwen’s. “Let’s go.”

“Wait. I’m not getting into a car with a strange person who is doing this for free. They might be planning to kidnap us!” Several scenarios, each more harrowing than the last flitted through her mind. She should have taken the train. So what if that meant arriving at 4am in the morning? At least she would be alive.

Merlin’s laugh broke into her thoughts. “Arthur has some unsavoury habits, but kidnapping is not one of them.”

“Arthur? Your boss, Arthur?”

“Come on. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Without concern for her shock, Merlin opened the door and walked out.

It took a moment for Gwen to remember how to use her legs. She grabbed Merlin’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Why? You said to surprise you.”

“Not like this!”

Merlin’s only response was a shrug. “He wouldn’t let me drive his car. If I wanted the car, I’d have to take him too.”

Gwen closed her eyes, then opened them again, only to see Merlin walking away from her, bags in his hands. It was really happening. She was going on a road trip with Arthur Pendragon - the man who teased a coffee date, then never followed up.

It was hard not to notice the gleaming red sports car that idled by the side of her building or the two people who leaned casually against it.

“Morgana.” Merlin’s voice was a strangled mix of surprise and dread. “Have you come to house sit our flat? If I had known, I would have left Aithusa at home. She doesn’t get along that well with Killy.”

“Don’t be silly.” Morgana brushed a kiss on Merlin’s cheek, making him stiffen. Beside them, Arthur merely raised his eyebrows in amusement.

Gwen bit down on her smile as petty pleasure that Merlin was getting a taste of his own medicine filled her. “Morgana. Are you coming along?”

“Once I found out that brother dearest here was invited -”

“He invited himself,” muttered Merlin, suddenly seemingly unhappy that Arthur had come.

“Of course he did. So I did the same. A weekend away. Doesn’t that sound divine? Work has been so hectic recently. I could do with the rest.”

“You know what Morgana is like. I couldn’t stop her,” said Arthur, although the look in his eyes made Gwen wonder if he even tried at all. He took a step towards Gwen, his smile widening. “Gwen. Congratulations. I can’t wait to attend the panel.”

Before she could think of what to say, Merlin was tossing their bags into the back of the car. “We should get going,” he said, slipping into the front passenger seat, leaving Gwen no choice but to clamber into the back with Morgana.

Arthur slung one arm casually across the back of Merlin’s seat, slid on his sunglasses and placed his other hand on the wheel. “All ok? Let’s get going then.”

* * *

“Are we lost?” Gwen glanced at her watch, noting that Google Maps had told her the drive would take slightly more than an hour and almost two hours had past. Morgana was sprawled across the back seat, squeezing Gwen into a corner, her head tilted and her mouth slightly open. Gwen supposed she should be glad that Morgana wasn’t drooling. A tiny, no-good part of her wanted to snap a photo of the always put-together socialite like this.

Arthur met her eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I see why the two of the them are together. They fall asleep at a drop of a hat.”

To support Arthur’s amused observation, Merlin let out a loud snore.

Laughter bubbled out of Gwen, and when Arthur grinned widely at her, she felt a ball of warmth unfurl in her chest, which was really a bad idea because it wasn’t as if she wanted to like him more. There was of course that annoying attraction to him, especially when his eyes were warm and his smile bright but she didn’t need more men in her life who couldn’t make up their minds if they wanted her or not. So her laugh faded, and she scowled. “Are we lost?”

Eyes back on the road, Arthur shrugged.

Gwen narrowed her eyes, then fired up Google Maps. “You missed the turning earlier.”

“I see time hasn’t eroded your map skills, map girl.” Once again, her eyes met his and he flashed a smile. “This route is more scenic.”

“Scenic. Right.” She bit down on a smile and leaned back into the leather seat. Men. “Do you need me to navigate?”

“Why don’t you tell me more about your conference and the panel?”

“If you tell me why you’re playing the chauffeur today.”

That smile appeared again on his face. “You know why. I wanted to spend time with you.”

“Huh,” said Gwen.

“You don’t believe me. I admit, after Christmas, there was a bit of a crisis at work, then at home with my Dad so I didn’t get a chance to buy you coffee. Surely, Merlin told you.”

“We don’t actually discuss you that much,” she sniffed.

He chuckled. “So you discuss me a little.”

“No.” But she smiled, and she knew he caught it in the mirror.


	16. Chapter 16

The receptionist - Darren according to his name tag - squinted at the screen, lifted his head and glared at them from above his thick glasses. “It says here that you made a reservation for a twin room. The terms and conditions clearly state that the room is for a maximum of two adults.” He paused, probably for dramatic effect. “There are four of you.”

“Yes,” said Gwen. “This is why I’m asking for another twin room. Please.”

Darren frowned, then dropped his gaze back to the screen. “There are no more twin rooms available. There’s an art and media conference happening tomorrow and we’re almost full.”

“Surely -”

Arthur was suddenly beside her. “Almost? That means you have other rooms.”

“Well, we have a single room and the honeymoon suite.”

“Brilliant,” said Arthur. He pulled out his wallet and handed over his credit card. “We’ll take the suite.”

Merlin dropped their bags on the carpeted floor, put his hands on his hips and studied the room. “Why did Morgana and Arthur get the honeymoon suite?”

“Because they paid for it?” 

If their standard twin room was anything to go by, the honeymoon suite was probably just as bland and sterile. Perhaps with a larger area, probably a soaking tub, some towel animal on the bed and roses. Always roses. It made Gwen think of Lancelot again. He was always giving her roses, even when she’d pointed out that she much prefered daffodils. Roses were much more romantic, he said. 

“Frankly,” said Merlin as he hefted his bag onto his bed, “they should have offered you the room. How weird is it that they are going to be sharing a bed? They are brother and sister.”

“Step-brother and step-sister.”

Merlin shuddered. “So that makes it ok?”

“I’m sure they will both survive the night with their virtues intact. Perhaps you’re more upset that you’re not spending the night with Morgana.”

“She snores.” And with those words, Merlin grabbed something from his bag, then marched to the bathroom, leaving Gwen grinning at the closed bathroom door. 

After his shower, Merlin emerged from the steam-filled bathroom in a much better mood. He ran his hand through his damp hair - his version of combing - then flopped onto the bed. “The water pressure is great. And I’m famished.”

“Arthur called,” said Gwen. “He made reservation at some restaurant. We’re to meet them at the lobby in half-an-hour.”

“Arthur always has good taste in food. Do you want to shower?”

“I’ll shower after dinner.”

Merlin sat up. “Shall we go visit the incestuous couple then? I want to see the honeymoon suite.”

“You have to admit that if they weren’t related, they would make a very handsome couple.”

“Morgana wouldn’t want someone like Arthur,” said Merlin. “She prefers her men more -”

“More?”

“Charming.”

Gwen tried not to smile. “I think Arthur is very charming.”

“You would, wouldn’t you?” This time, Merlin was the one grinning.

In return, Gwen shoulder-bumped him.

As expected, the honeymoon suite was rather beige. And boring. And the poor towel swan looked like it was about to keel over and die. The best thing about the room was the fact that Arthur was standing shirtless in it. When Morgana opened the door to them, he was standing next to the large windows, speaking into his phone. It was obvious that he’d just come of the shower, his blonde hair damp and a towel wrapped snuggly around his hips.

An elbow jabbed into her ribs. “Close your mouth.”

Arthur turned at that moment, his eyes meeting hers, and he smiled. Something became mush in Gwen but within moments, his attention was back on his phone. 

“How is your room?” asked Morgana. She was now sitting cross-legged on her bed and didn’t look the least like she’d just been sprawled across the back seat of a car, sleeping. “This honeymoon suite is certainly not what I expected.”

“It’s clean.”

Morgana wrinkled her nose. “I suppose. Next time we go on a vacation, I’ll book the lodging. At least Arthur promises me that dinner would be exquisite.” She slanted a disapproving look at Arthur. “That man can’t stop working for one moment.”

“So, you two are going to share this bed?” Merlin picked up the towel swan by it’s neck. Slowly, the swan unravelled. Merlin let go of it and it fell in a clump back on the bed. Gwen wondered if Merlin saw any symbolism in that. 

“Is that a problem?”

“I just think it’s weird.”

Morgana rolled her eyes but before she could say anything, Arthur finally hung up. 

“Let me put on some clothes then we can head out.”

+

Dinner was, as expected by both Morgana and Merlin, exquisite. It was all very classy and adult, until Merlin decided to attempt a magic trick and managed to set the table cloth on fire before dessert. Needless to say, the four of them were booted out of the restaurant, despite Arthur’s attempt to soothe the owner’s ruffled feathers with money. 

“Did you see his face?” Morgana, much to Gwen’s surprise, seemed to have found the whole thing hilarious. “The waiter. I bet he thought that his beard was going to catch fire.”

“What do you have against facial hair? I was thinking of growing a beard myself,” said Merlin as he stroked his chin. “I think it would make me look really dapper.”

Morgana stopped walking, made a sharp turn and looked at Merlin, her eyes scanning him up and down. Gwen would swear that she saw Merlin puff his chest up, a tidbit she stored for later use.

She shook her head, then started walking again. “Nah.”

“Nah?” 

“Have you seen Arthur during his hippie days?”

“Morgana -” 

Merlin interrupted immediately. “Oh no, this is a story I want to hear.”

It was Gwen’s turn to examine Arthur. A hippie? The man dressed in a crisp red shirt and fitting pressed trousers, whose cheeks were now a light shade of blush - a hippie? Gwen grinned at the image forming in her head.

“It was funnier than whatever is in your head,” laughed Morgana, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Let me tell you all about it.”

“Hey, share it with me too!” And the next thing Gwen knew was that she was squashed between Merlin and Morgana. 

“I feel ganged up upon,” said Arthur as he stepped in front of them, arms crossed. His eyes twinkled and a smile crept upon his face. 

“We should do this over some drinks,” said Morgana.

Arthur shook his head, the smile still on his face. “I think there’s a bar about 10 minutes away.”

Gwen was about to agree, when her eyes caught sight of the time. She sighed. “I should go back. I need to look through my notes again and get some rest. But don’t let me stop you from enjoying the night. Merlin, take notes.”

“You know what,” said Arthur. “You two enjoy gossiping about me. I’m going to walk Gwen back to the hotel.”

“Oh no -”

“I insist. Morgana, you’ll look after Merlin, won’t you?” 

“Arthur -” Merlin started.

Morgana slipped her hand in Merlin’s. “Come on, Merlin. I’m dying for a drink.”

+

She babbled all the way back to the hotel, starting with a story of how she’d passed a hippie commune on a holiday with her family once. That segued, somehow, into another story of how her first life nude portrait painting and now she was telling him about her pretty ordinary art college life.

He nodded and smiled and asked the occasional question, and for some reason, that kept her talking and talking. 

Then, suddenly, they were at the hotel and Arthur was pushing open the main door for her.

“Sorry,” she said as they stood in front of the lifts. “I talk too much when I’m nervous. Not that I’m nervous here because why would I be? I mean, I know you’re Merlin’s boss but we’re kinda friends now right? And -”

She stopped there, because the most cliched thing happened.

To shut her up, Arthur kissed her. His lips, warmer and softer than she’d expected - not that she had thought about it, not that much anyway - moved gently across hers, his hand resting lightly on her hip.

“Now, you’re thinking too much,” he murmured against her lips. 

“I can’t help it,” whispered Gwen.

Arthur kissed her once more, then took a step back. His hand lingered against her hip. “I’ll see you to your room.”

At the door to her room, even more thoughts ran through Gwen’s head - should she invite Arthur in, would he kiss her again, she should really be looking through her notes - but Arthur short-circuited them all with a quick squeeze of her hand.

“Good luck tomorrow,” he said. 

And as Gwen watched him walk back to the lift, she didn’t know if they had just started something, or if this hasty retreat by Arthur meant whatever they started had already ended.


End file.
